pretender

/prəˈtɛndər/
/prɪˈtɛndə/
IPA guide

Other forms: pretenders

Definitions of pretender
  1. noun
    a person who makes deceitful pretenses
    synonyms: fake, faker, fraud, humbug, imposter, impostor, pseud, pseudo, role player, sham, shammer
    see moresee less
    types:
    name dropper
    someone who pretends that famous people are his/her friends
    ringer
    a contestant entered in a competition under false pretenses
    type of:
    beguiler, cheat, cheater, deceiver, slicker, trickster
    someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
  2. noun
    a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
    synonyms: dissembler, dissimulator, hypocrite, phoney, phony
    see moresee less
    types:
    charmer, smoothie, smoothy, sweet talker
    someone with an assured and ingratiating manner
    Tartufe, Tartuffe
    a hypocrite who pretends to religious piety (after the protagonist in a play by Moliere)
    whited sepulcher, whited sepulchre
    a person who is inwardly evil but outwardly professes to be virtuous
    type of:
    beguiler, cheat, cheater, deceiver, slicker, trickster
    someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
Pronunciation
US
/prəˈtɛndər/
UK
/prɪˈtɛndə/
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