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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Recent Examples of charlatan
Nadia, the Russian mail-order bride of Jez Butterworth’s 2001 film Birthday Girl, bounces unnervingly among multiple guises: seducer, charlatan, love interest.
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Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2024
In the movie, Spike, the charlatan Faye Valentine, the ex-cop Jet, the young hacker Ed and the corgi Ein chase a new target, an ex-soldier named Vincent who plots to release a bioweapon on Halloween.
—Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 15 Aug. 2024
This group in particular should have known this and declined to be played by such an obvious charlatan.
—Keith Bromery, Sun Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2024
On YouTube, some critics have posted videos that question whether certain interventionists are working as police informants, or dismiss them as out-of-touch charlatans who chase city contracts by overstating their street credentials and ability to connect with a younger generation.
—Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for charlatan 
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2024
In the movie, Spike, the charlatan Faye Valentine, the ex-cop Jet, the young hacker Ed and the corgi Ein chase a new target, an ex-soldier named Vincent who plots to release a bioweapon on Halloween.
—Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 15 Aug. 2024
This group in particular should have known this and declined to be played by such an obvious charlatan.
—Keith Bromery, Sun Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2024
On YouTube, some critics have posted videos that question whether certain interventionists are working as police informants, or dismiss them as out-of-touch charlatans who chase city contracts by overstating their street credentials and ability to connect with a younger generation.
—Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for charlatan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for charlatan
Noun
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July 29 - Protests break out in several Venezuelan cities after Nicolas Maduro is formally declared the winner by the county’s electoral authority in a presidential race marred by accusations of electoral fraud.CNN, CNN, 21 Nov. 2024
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Witkoff testified in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud suit against Trump in November 2023 and spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.Giacomo Tognini, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Vought said that independent agencies and unelected bureaucrats and experts wield far too much power while the traditional legislative process is a sham.Molly Redden, ProPublica, 28 Oct. 2024
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The set also comes in a matching duvet cover and shams.Terri Williams, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Noun
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After a play-action fake, Jared Goff rolled out right and found Sam LaPorta for a 20-yard touchdown.Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 11 Nov. 2024
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These worries extend beyond potential deep fakes and foreign intervention, which have dominated recent news coverage.Nizan Geslevich Packin, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Other pretender brands like Stellantis’s DS, and Hyundai’s Genesis look to be fighting a losing battle.Neil Winton, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
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Those few Knights of the Round Table who remain are third-tier heroes, clinging to a past that is already washing out to sea, while various pretenders to the throne vye for power.Erik Kain, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Her favorite recording reminded me of a duck’s quack.Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024
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Witness the presidential campaign of anti-vaccine crackpot Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the dangerous attack on medical science by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his quack henchman, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2024
Noun
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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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While that may have been the case, the country’s oligarchs have unwittingly turned this volatile impostor into a folk hero whose power may not diminish even outside the chancellor’s sphere of influence.Scott Tobias, Vulture, 17 Mar. 2024
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The only people who never feel like impostors are the real impostors.Melody Wilding, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near charlatan
Cite this Entry
“Charlatan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charlatan. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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