personators
Those feigning identities
Personators are people who impersonate others, typically for fraudulent purposes.
The term appears most often in legal and bureaucratic contexts: voter personators, benefit personators.
Someone who pretends to be another person to cast an illegal ballot or collect benefits is a personator.
The word overlaps with impersonator but carries stronger connotations of deception rather than entertainment.
One feigning another's identity
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- con-artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
- scammerOne who defrauds others
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
charlatan · deceiver · hoaxer · phony · pretender · faker · forger · trickster
One who portrays characters
- performerOne who entertains audiences
- entertainerOne who amuses others
- rolePosition or part
- portrayalDepiction of someone
costume · makeup · prosthetics · transformation · stage · audition · rehearsal · cast
One who copies others
- mimicOne who copies others
- copycatOne who mimics another
- impressionEffect on the mind
- mannerismDistinctive personal habit
gesture · likeness · emulation · echo · parrot · ape · caricature · send-up
impostor
One feigning another's identity
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- con-artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
- scammerOne who defrauds others
swindler · charlatan · deceiver · hoaxer · phony · pretender · faker · forger · trickster · mountebank
actor
One who portrays characters
- performerOne who entertains audiences
- entertainerOne who amuses others
- rolePosition or part
portrayal · costume · makeup · prosthetics · transformation · stage · audition · rehearsal · cast · understudy
imitator
One who copies others
- mimicOne who copies others
- copycatOne who mimics another
- impressionEffect on the mind
mannerism · gesture · likeness · emulation · echo · parrot · ape · caricature · send-up · affectation
impressionist
Performer copying famous voices
satire · caricature · send-up · burlesque · cabaret · vaudeville · stand-up · act · routine
personatorsauthenticators
Tools confirming identity
exposers · unmaskers · debunkers · truth-tellers · whistleblowers