imposture
Deliberate identity deception
Imposture is the act of deceiving others by pretending to be someone or something you're not.
It emphasizes the fraudulent assumption of a false identity or character, typically for personal gain or to manipulate others.
The word carries a formal, slightly literary tone and often appears in contexts involving deliberate deception over time rather than momentary falsehood: His imposture as a licensed physician lasted nearly a decade before investigators exposed him.
Creating fraudulent imitations
- counterfeitFraudulent imitation
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- falsificationDeliberate alteration of truth
- fakeNot the real thing
misrepresentation · adulteration · spuriousness · doctoring · tampering · bogusness
Faker claiming false expertise
- pretenderIllegitimate claimant to power
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- quackFake healer or fowl noise
- mountebankTraveling seller of fake remedies
swindler · hoaxer · faker · conman · phony · scammer · grifter · deceiver
Intentional criminal trickery
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- swindleDeception for financial gain
- conArgument against
- scamDishonest money-making scheme
dupery · trickery · chicanery · fakery · subterfuge · artifice · duplicity · flimflam
Deceptive act or costume party
- guiseExternal manner shown
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- maskFace-worn concealment
- façadeFalse outward appearance
persona · front · pretense · cloak · cover · veil · camouflage · incognito
Deliberate falsehood
- untruthA false statement
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- fictionImagined narrative work
- canardUnfounded malicious rumor
whopper · fib · falsity · misstatement · prevarication · mendacity · invention · story
forgery
Creating fraudulent imitations
- counterfeitFraudulent imitation
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- falsificationDeliberate alteration of truth
fake · misrepresentation · adulteration · spuriousness · doctoring · tampering · bogusness
charlatan
Faker claiming false expertise
- pretenderIllegitimate claimant to power
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- quackFake healer or fowl noise
mountebank · swindler · hoaxer · faker · conman · phony · scammer · grifter · deceiver · trickster
fraud
Intentional criminal trickery
scam · dupery · trickery · chicanery · fakery · subterfuge · artifice · duplicity · flimflam · bamboozlement
masquerade
Deceptive act or costume party
façade · persona · front · pretense · cloak · cover · veil · camouflage · incognito · alias
lie
Deliberate falsehood
- untruthA false statement
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- fictionImagined narrative work
canard · whopper · fib · falsity · misstatement · prevarication · mendacity · invention · story · tall tale
- scamsscam, scams, fraud, frauds, swindle
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- identityidentity, personal identity, self, selfhood, self-expression
- deceptionslie, lies, lying, deceit, decoy
- disguisesmask, costume, disguise, fake beard, fake mustache
- impostureimpersonation, false pretenses, pretender, personation, assumed name
imposturehonesty
Truthfulness, sincerity
truthfulness · sincerity · authenticity · genuineness · candor
imposturelegitimacy
Lawful or rightful status
reality · the real thing · genuine article · authenticity · fact
suppose, pose, oppose, propose, expose, deposit, opposition, composite, impostor