as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
the famed faith healer turned out to be a charlatan
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of charlatan
One exception is Cotton Marcus, the charlatan at the center of The Last Exorcism.
—
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 30 July 2024
What’s interesting about it is that in the book, the Dragon Queen is very obviously a con woman and a charlatan right away, and she was based on someone that’s real.
—Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024
This is not a situation where, say, an elderly person of limited means, knowledge and capacity was duped by a charlatan and there’s a viable case for unconscionability.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 27 Sep. 2024
Nadia, the Russian mail-order bride of Jez Butterworth’s 2001 film Birthday Girl, bounces unnervingly among multiple guises: seducer, charlatan, love interest.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for charlatan 
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 30 July 2024
What’s interesting about it is that in the book, the Dragon Queen is very obviously a con woman and a charlatan right away, and she was based on someone that’s real.
—Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024
This is not a situation where, say, an elderly person of limited means, knowledge and capacity was duped by a charlatan and there’s a viable case for unconscionability.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 27 Sep. 2024
Nadia, the Russian mail-order bride of Jez Butterworth’s 2001 film Birthday Girl, bounces unnervingly among multiple guises: seducer, charlatan, love interest.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for charlatan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for charlatan
Noun
-
The fraud complaint indicated that voter registration cards were altered.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
28 Jan. 2025
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But the directive did appear to cover Pell grants, housing vouchers, and such disparate programs as Medicaid fraud prevention and gun safety services.—
Seth Klamann,
The Denver Post,
28 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Thankfully, the courts have seen through these shams, and in eighteen days, the jig will finally be up.—
Kevin Lynn,
Newsweek,
8 Jan. 2025
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The president – former President Trump's nominee for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has called this issue of extremism in the military a sham, suggesting that perhaps some of the efforts to end – to combat extremism are going to end.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
5 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Travel fakes like this appear to be on the uptick in 2025.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA TODAY,
17 Jan. 2025
-
The truth became impossible to distill: Musk's vaunted Community Notes system was like a Band-Aid on a bullet hole, as reports of water shortages — some real, some fake — exploded into partisan blame games.—
Axios,
Axios,
10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Every decision carries weight, and in a league where the line between contender and pretender is razor-thin, there’s little room for error.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
6 Jan. 2025
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The only saving grace for City is that there is no clear pretender to take its place as the top dog in English soccer.—
Joe Prince-Wright, NBC Sports,
NBC News,
20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Amy's every interaction is loaded with dramatic irony, but the audience isn't in a good spot knowing that her teenage daughter actually hates her or that the new chief of internal medicine is a quack who killed a patient.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA TODAY,
8 Jan. 2025
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The nomination to any responsible position of quacks like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo would put her to that test.—
Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Boards,
Orlando Sentinel,
11 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
26 July 2024
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Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.—
Armond White,
National Review,
3 Jan. 2024
Noun
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However, Macy's Santa is supposed to be the real Santa, so the department store wanted to cut the famous scene where Buddy finds out about the impostor.—
Kaycee Sloan,
The Enquirer,
2 Dec. 2024
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Nearly 600,000 reports of impostor schemes, including romance scams, were received by FTC officials this year, with losses exceeding $2.1 billion.—
Tom Rogers,
Newsweek,
26 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near charlatan
Cite this Entry
“Charlatan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charlatan. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
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