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

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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

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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

These days, however, Mr. Sharpton is much closer to a charlatan than a kingmaker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

And that is alarming, because Kennedy is a charlatan who opposes evidence-based medicine and promotes discredited quackery.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2025

Pauly plays the impulsive charlatan with an irrepressible charm.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 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

Every few centuries, some charlatan, some crawling, vicious soul, would try to get close to the Glimourie Tree—to steal it, to take it for their own.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

But cults are generally led by charlatans, so that’s not surprising.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

Liberal Democrat MP Tom Morrison said the government needs "a proper regulatory framework to make sure these charlatans that are putting out bogus sleep advice on social media... are held to account."

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 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

The series toes a delicate line, showing why alternative remedies can be so appealing to patients frustrated with traditional medicine, but also illustrating how dangerous charlatans are willing to exploit that desperation for personal gain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2025

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

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