impersonate

[verb im-pur-suh-neyt; adjective im-pur-suh-nit, -neyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR impersonate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), im·per·son·at·ed, im·per·son·at·ing.

to assume the character or appearance of; pretend to be: He was arrested for impersonating a police officer.

to mimic the voice, mannerisms, etc., of (a person) in order to entertain.

to act or play the part of; personate.

Archaic. to represent in personal or bodily form; personify; typify.

adjective

embodied in a person; invested with personality.

Origin of impersonate

First recorded in 1615–25; im-¹ + person + -ate¹

Related formsim·per·son·a·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for impersonate

portray, imitate, mimic, represent, play, ditto, do, perform, fake, mirror, act, enact, ape, personate, playact

Examples from the Web for impersonate

Contemporary Examples of impersonate

The truth is that anyone in the world could impersonate me, and there is little I can do about it.
How I (Digitally) Killed My Twitter Impostor
JoBeth McDaniel
July 21, 2014
A lonely young woman gets drawn into an online forum and is asked to impersonate someone else.
The First Great Internet Novel
Lauren Elkin
July 13, 2013
Say one thing for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, he certainly has the right hair to impersonate Elvis.
10 Celebrity Elvis Impersonations
August 16, 2011
Con artists routinely hack into accounts to impersonate people and bilk money from strangers.
Catfish's Photo Fraud Victim
Gina Piccalo
October 4, 2010

Historical Examples of impersonate

They intrude here, to impersonate the Nine Worthies before the two Courts.
William Shakespeare
John Masefield
Now when I am sixty-three I shall begin to impersonate children.
The Merry-Go-Round
Carl Van Vechten
What would he have given to impersonate her lover in the piece!
A Laodicean
Thomas Hardy
She proceeded to impersonate both that heroine and Madame La Farge.
The Cricket
Marjorie Cooke
He used the choruses as Handel did, to impersonate the mass of people.
How Music Developed
W. J. Henderson

British Dictionary definitions for impersonate

impersonate

verb (tr)

to pretend to be (another person)

to imitate the character, mannerisms, etc, of (another person)

rare to play the part or character of

an archaic word for personify

Derived Formsimpersonation, nounimpersonator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for impersonate

1620s, "to invest with a personality," from assimilated form of Latin in- "into, in" (see in- (2)) + persona "person." Sense of "to assume the person or character of" is first recorded 1715. Earlier in same sense was personate (1610s). Related: Impersonated; impersonating.