Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The act or instance of engaging in deception under an assumed name or identity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practised, usually under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition.
- noun An imposing or putting; imposition, or an imposition; that which is imposed or laid on.
- noun Synonyms Trick, cheat.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition; cheating.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act or conduct of an
impostor ;deception practiced under afalse orassumed character ;fraud orimposition ;cheating .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun pretending to be another person
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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It could not be at the fact that, for all your hollow proclamations of the auteur's commitment to the work alone, this imposture is actually an artifical bolstering of a self-esteem that's actually quite frail and flimsy.
How Not to be a Writer Hal Duncan 2009
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It could not be at the fact that, for all your hollow proclamations of the auteur's commitment to the work alone, this imposture is actually an artifical bolstering of a self-esteem that's actually quite frail and flimsy.
Archive 2009-01-01 Hal Duncan 2009
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"I am sorry, sir," replied that gentleman, "that you should think it necessary to apply the word imposture to any 'proceeding of mine.
The Evil Eye; Or, The Black Spector The Works of William Carleton, Volume One William Carleton 1831
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But Soa knew well enough that this was but the beginning of the struggle, and that, though it might be comparatively easy for Juanna and Otter to enter the city, and impose themselves upon its superstition-haunted people as the incarnations of their fabled gods, the maintenance of the imposture was a very different matter.
The People of the Mist Henry Rider Haggard 1890
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He calls for the magicians, who more than once had been detected in imposture.
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But, come now, just admit the idea of imposture into that honest, unsuspicious mind of yours, and you'll find the whole thing wears a very doubtful appearance directly.
Put Yourself in His Place Charles Reade 1849
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If we read Polidori's figurative vampirism as something more than self-pity, his "imposture" is less postmodern playfulness than it is something far more sinister--the "glamour of imposture" as something poisonous to both the performer and the performed.
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If we read Polidori's figurative vampirism as something more than self-pity, his "imposture" is less postmodern playfulness than it is something far more sinister--the "glamour of imposture" as something poisonous to both the performer and the performed.
Imposture 2007
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What I called an "imposture" for a critical edition was precisely the impression given of a single, clean, definitive text in large type.
'Romantic Originals': An Exchange Amory, Hugh 1988
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This "imposture," in Rosen's opinion, has an intimate connection with bibliography, though he never explains how bibliography causes the editor to take down the 1850 Prelude from the shelf (an easy, objective choice, according to Rosen) instead of the 1805 model (an awkward, subjective motion).
'Romantic Originals': An Exchange Amory, Hugh 1988
bilby commented on the word imposture
"No imposture. You can use any pseudonym you like, but if you represent yourself as someone you're not, you're outta here."
- The new comment policy here at 'Mondoweiss', phillipweiss.org, 23 Feb 2009.
March 22, 2009
Gammerstang commented on the word imposture
(noun) - Deceit, cousenage, properly in selling counterfet wares . . . or in craftie illusions done by sorcerers, Egyptians and juglers. The party so deceiving is called an imposter.
--John Bullokar's An English Expositor, 1616
January 14, 2018