impostor
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of impostor
1580–90; < Late Latin, equivalent to Latin impos ( i )-, variant stem of impōnere to deceive, place on ( see impone) + -tor -tor
Vocabulary lists containing impostor
"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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"The Millionaire Miser"
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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.
Impostor syndrome means you’re still holding onto the person you were before.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2025
Re: Impostor: In my experience, people who have impostor syndrome are often the most qualified.
From Washington Post • Aug. 22, 2022
Impostor syndrome is a term used to describe feelings of insecurity or self-doubt, despite there being no evidence to support such a belief.
From BBC • Aug. 5, 2021
Impostor syndrome is something that doesn’t sit with you all the time.
From Slate • May 2, 2021
With those words the Impostor shook them both by the hand, with an air, and left the house; leaving me much more astonished than delighted by the virtues of that same indefinite “it.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
