personate
Assume another's identity
To personate is to assume the identity of another person, typically for fraudulent purposes.
The word carries legal weight: personating a police officer or government official is a crime.
It differs from impersonate in that personate emphasizes deception rather than performance—you personate to deceive, you impersonate to entertain.
He was arrested for personating a federal agent.
One who copies others
- imitateReproduce another's behavior
- copyIdentical reproduction made
- emulateCopy with aspiration
- simulateImitate through modeling
ape · mirror · echo · replicate · parody · mock · caricature · pretend
One who portrays characters
- performExecute or present
- portrayRepresent through performance
- embodyExpress through physical form
- enactPass into law
role · character · stage · drama · costume · audition · rehearsal · script
One feigning another's identity
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- identity theftStealing personal data criminally
- forgeryCreating fraudulent imitations
- shamFraudulent imitation
charlatan · phony · con artist · scam · deceit · duplicity · subterfuge · pretense
mimic
One who copies others
simulate · ape · mirror · echo · replicate · parody · mock · caricature · pretend · assume
actor
One who portrays characters
enact · role · character · stage · drama · costume · audition · rehearsal · script · monologue
impostor
One feigning another's identity
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- identity theftStealing personal data criminally
- forgeryCreating fraudulent imitations
sham · charlatan · phony · con artist · scam · deceit · duplicity · subterfuge · pretense · false pretenses
- flower formsbell-shaped, cup-shaped, funnel-shaped, trumpet-shaped, star-shaped
personatebe oneself
Act without pretense
be authentic · self-identify · act naturally · unmask · show one's true colors
- personal spaceComfort distance around oneself
- personal essaysNonfiction exploring the author's life
- nothing personalDisclaimer before criticism
- personal rightsLegally protected individual freedoms
- personal computerIndividual-use computing machine
- personal lifeOne's non-professional existence
personal, personality, personally, impersonate, impersonator, impersonation, interpersonal, impersonating, impersonated