impersonation

American  

[im-pur-suh-ney-shuhn] / ɪmˌpɜr səˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of pretending to be someone else, with intent to mislead or deceive.

   The argument for requiring voter IDs is that states must guard against impersonation and other flagrant voter fraud.

2. the act of mimicking the voice, mannerisms, etc., of another person, usually someone well-known and especially in order to entertain.

   As a youth worker he found he could make teenagers laugh by doing impersonations of movie stars.

3. the act of playing the part of a character in a play.

   In the one-woman play, her impersonations of minor characters don't ring with authenticity, and her body movements are a bit severe.

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Etymology

Origin of impersonation

im- ¹ ( def. ) + personat(e) ¹ ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )

Explanation

Impersonation is when someone pretends to be another person. If you pretend to be your twin brother all day at school, that's impersonation. There are a few different forms of impersonation — some of them are harmless, like comedians who use impersonation to mimic the voices and mannerisms of famous people, or actors who play historical figures in movies. Other kinds of impersonation are harmful, including when a thief takes someone's identity (including Social Security number and bank information) in order to steal their money. Impersonation has the Latin roots in-, "into," and persona, "person."

Example Sentences

A federal court dismissed the case on grounds that the Freedom Foundation hasn’t yet been sued by a union for false impersonation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

It was like staring at someone doing an impersonation that was one part Lt.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

"Social media is powerful, but there are still not enough safeguards to protect people from long-term impersonation and targeted attacks like this."

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026

AFP was granted a look inside the global organisation's multi-pronged cybercrime facility, where specialists pore through massive amounts of data in a bid to prevent the next big ransomware attack or impersonation scam.

From Barron's • Feb. 15, 2026

An impersonation of the pompous, blustering second lieutenant.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom