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
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.
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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
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
See all Example Sentences for charlatan 
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
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
See all Example Sentences for charlatan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for charlatan
Noun
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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
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Trump’s lawsuit, which was filed in Iowa state court in Polk County, accuses the outlet and pollster of violating Iowa’s consumer fraud laws by engaging in deception.Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 17 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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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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In Saturday's game at Arizona (1:30 p.m., FOX) ASU has the chance to do something it's done only once before this century: go undefeated in November, the month in which good teams separate themselves from early-season pretenders.Matthew Self, The Arizona Republic, 26 Nov. 2024
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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
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
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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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
Thesaurus Entries Near charlatan
Cite this Entry
“Charlatan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charlatan. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
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