impersonate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to assume the character or appearance of; pretend to be.
He was arrested for impersonating a police officer.
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to mimic the voice, mannerisms, etc., of (a person) in order to entertain.
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to act or play the part of; personate.
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Archaic. to represent in personal or bodily form; personify; typify.
adjective
verb
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to pretend to be (another person)
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to imitate the character, mannerisms, etc, of (another person)
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rare to play the part or character of
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an archaic word for personify
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have impersonatedperfect
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has impersonatedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been impersonatingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is impersonatingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been impersonatingperfect progressive
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are impersonatingprogressive
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am impersonatingprogressive 1st person singular
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impersonatessingular 3rd person
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impersonatingparticiple
Past
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had impersonatedperfect
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had been impersonatingperfect progressive
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was impersonatingprogressive singular
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were impersonatingprogressive plural
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impersonatedsimple
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impersonatedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of impersonate
Explanation
Impersonate means to pretend to be someone you're not. If you impersonate a bank teller in order to gain access to the money in the vault, you better hope nobody at the bank asks you any questions. Impersonate comes from the Latin in and persona, meaning "to invest with a personality." It often is used to describe someone posing as someone else for criminal purposes, but you can also impersonate someone for comedic effect. You may have seen actors on television do this. They impersonate politicians and celebrities by wearing wigs and makeup and try to match the famous person's mannerisms and way of speaking as closely as possible.
Vocabulary lists containing impersonate
The Secret Life of Bees
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Rebound
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 5–February 11, 2022
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This means hackers gain access to data shared on Signal and can also impersonate the person whose account was compromised.
From Barron's • Apr. 25, 2026
Detectives believe someone used the elder Hou’s cellphone to impersonate him for more than a month.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
Tinder and Zoom have encountered more problems with fake or malicious accounts and users over the last two years as improving AI technology has made it easier to impersonate human speech, voice and likeness.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
Indians who were later freed from compounds told police they sometimes received coaching in acting and regional accents to better impersonate law enforcement officers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
He could impersonate anybody—from a British general to a drunken farmer.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
