as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
it turns out that the guy who claimed to work for a modeling agency was just a pretender
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Recent Examples of pretender
Granted, August contenders can morph into November pretenders.
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Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2024
Everything is an aptitude test to identify the keepers and weed out the pretenders.
—Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 3 Aug. 2024
And yet, in and amongst this desperate reporting, a silent pretender has emerged in the form of Vans slip-ons.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 25 July 2024
There is no better place than Wimbledon to examine the slim difference between winners and pretenders.
—Sally Jenkins, Washington Post, 6 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretender 
Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2024
Everything is an aptitude test to identify the keepers and weed out the pretenders.
—Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 3 Aug. 2024
And yet, in and amongst this desperate reporting, a silent pretender has emerged in the form of Vans slip-ons.
—Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 25 July 2024
There is no better place than Wimbledon to examine the slim difference between winners and pretenders.
—Sally Jenkins, Washington Post, 6 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretender
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretender
Noun
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In the banking sector, AI presents opportunities in fraud management, improved customer service, and enhanced operational efficiency.Frank Sorrentino, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
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Softbank also blew a billion dollars on Wirecard, the German payments company at the center of an international fraud investigation, shortly before the firm unraveled.David Goldman, CNN, 17 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Marino took the snap, pretended to spike the ball to stop the clock, and threw a touchdown pass to Ingram, who was open after rookie cornerback Aaron Glenn bought Marino's fake.Jim Reineking, USA TODAY, 6 Dec. 2024
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But evidence compiled by academics in the U.S. and Canada as well as government institutions such as Colombia's health authorities is increasingly showing that some generics are of dubious quality, contaminated or outright fake.David Cox, NPR, 5 Dec. 2024
Noun
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One group acted as a control (no balloon), one as a sham (the balloon was uninflated), and the third was the treatment group (inflated device).New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Dec. 2024
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These are the pillows, blankets, shams, duvet covers, and more that make their nights better.Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 19 Nov. 2024
Noun
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But don’t be fooled — what might seem like a clandestine cannabis crop is often just a harmless impostor.Brandi D. Addison, Austin American-Statesman, 25 June 2024
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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
Noun
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Tartuffe, a charismatic charlatan, insinuates himself into the lives of a wealthy family, setting off a chain reaction of disruption and pandemonium.Del Mar Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Feb. 2024
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But in Wicked, he's elevated to an even more sinister place — not merely a charlatan, but a fraud who has seized power and wants to use the magic of others to create a totalitarian world that answers to his every whim.Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 Nov. 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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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
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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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Cite this Entry
“Pretender.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretender. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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