charlatan

American  

[shahr-luh-tn] / ˈʃɑr lə tn /

noun

• charlatans
  plural

1. a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than they possess; fraud; quack.

   Synonyms:

   phony, fake, fraud, mountebank, impostor

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charlatan British  

/ ˈʃɑːlətən /

noun

1. someone who professes knowledge or expertise, esp in medicine, that he or she does not have; quack

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• charlatanism
  noun
• charlatanic
  adjective
• charlatanical
  adjective
• charlatanish
  adjective
• charlatanistic
  adjective
• charlatanically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• charlatans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of charlatan

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Middle French, from Italian ciarlatano, equivalent to ciarla(tore) “chatterer” (derivative of ciarlare “to chatter”; from imitative root) + (cerre)tano “hawker, quack,” literally, “native of Cerreto, ” a village in Umbria, known for its quacks

Explanation

A charlatan is a quack, a person who is trying to deceive you with false claims. Beware of charlatans who try to sell you access to the fountain of youth or to a Ponzi scheme disguised as an exclusive investment fund. A charlatan is one who pretends to possess knowledge he or she lacks. From the 16th century Italian ciarlatano "a quack," the usage of charlatan has not shifted much. Other words for charlatan are impostor, cheat, or pretender. Charlatans are marked by the elaborate schemes they cook up. Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, "No psychologist should pretend to understand what he does not understand...Only fools and charlatans know everything and understand nothing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

charlatan charlatans

Jerry uses his “you-betcha” Midwestern accent to disguise his discontent, but beneath his charlatan smile lurks a rotten, greedy soul.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026

In Renaissance England, skillful surgeons and herb-dispensing healers competed with charlatan doctors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026

The sentencing judge found that Peters was motivated by vanity and personal aggrandizement rather than genuine concern for election integrity, describing her as a charlatan who used her former position to peddle disproven claims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2025

Passing sentence Judge Geoffery Baker QC described Saeed as a "charlatan", who had carried out a deception that had been "cunningly contrived, skilfully executed, and brazenly maintained over three decades".

From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2025

I want to think he’s an actor, a charlatan, a fake.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Cook said audience research had revealed the public liked him taking on the crooks and charlatans but they didn't actually want to see him getting hit.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

Ms. Adelman describes how Lewis’s specimens fell into the hands of a series of botanists—some of them charlatans, drunkards, liars or thieves—who squandered his legacy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

Over the centuries, it has endorsed only a small percentage of the thousands that have been claimed, in an effort to protect the faithful from charlatans, doctrinal errors or attempts to profit.

From New York Times ● May 17, 2024

This is a battle for control among con artists, charlatans, social media celebrities and mobsters.

From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2023

And though it's clear to anyone with an ounce of logic that they are a pack of charlatans, they're lionized throughout the Empire not just as immortal, but as oracles and mind-readers.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

Related Words

• con artist