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

Impersonation scams soared 1,400 percent year-on-year in 2025 globally, according to Chainalysis, which also found that AI-enabled fraud was 4.5 times more profitable than its lower-tech equivalents.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

You don’t title a pop song “Sigmund Freud’s Impersonation of Albert Einstein in America” without being at least a little masochistic.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2024

Impersonation, however straight-faced, always hints at satire; here, as often, Fraser’s work gains power from a light, almost comic touch.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2023

YouTube said it had removed one of the channels BBC News had alerted it to, adding: "We have strict Community Guidelines prohibiting scams, including Impersonation and hacking."

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2022

Pasta's Grandest Impersonation, is given to the World.—Description of the Performance.—Enthusiasm of the Critics and the Public.—Introduction of Pasta to the English Public in Rossini's "Otello."

From Great Singers, First Series Faustina Bordoni To Henrietta Sontag by Ferris, George T. (George Titus)