impersonate
Americanverb (used with object)
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impersonates,
present (3rd person singular)
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impersonated,
past participle, past
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impersonating
present participle
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to assume the character or appearance of; pretend to be.
He was arrested for impersonating a police officer.
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to mimic the voice, mannerisms, etc., of (a person) in order to entertain.
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to act or play the part of; personate.
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Archaic. to represent in personal or bodily form; personify; typify.
adjective
verb
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to pretend to be (another person)
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to imitate the character, mannerisms, etc, of (another person)
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rare to play the part or character of
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an archaic word for personify
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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impersonatesimple
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impersonatessimple
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have impersonatedperfect
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has impersonatedperfect
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am impersonatingprogressive
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are impersonatingprogressive
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is impersonatingprogressive
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have been impersonatingperfect progressive
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has been impersonatingperfect progressive
Past
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impersonatedsimple
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had impersonatedperfect
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was impersonatingprogressive
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were impersonatingprogressive
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had been impersonatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of impersonate
Explanation
Impersonate means to pretend to be someone you're not. If you impersonate a bank teller in order to gain access to the money in the vault, you better hope nobody at the bank asks you any questions. Impersonate comes from the Latin in and persona, meaning "to invest with a personality." It often is used to describe someone posing as someone else for criminal purposes, but you can also impersonate someone for comedic effect. You may have seen actors on television do this. They impersonate politicians and celebrities by wearing wigs and makeup and try to match the famous person's mannerisms and way of speaking as closely as possible.
Vocabulary lists containing impersonate
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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.
See Examples For:
BBC Verify has tracked Russian-linked disinformation campaigns including using AI to create fake videos which impersonate journalists and news organisations reporting on Ukraine.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
For example, they can be trained to impersonate someone.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Detectives believe someone used the elder Hou’s cellphone to impersonate him for more than a month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
This season, Fey dropped by to impersonate freshly ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2026
Surely Mom knew that Natalie could just impersonate the Natalie Mayhew of this world; surely she knew that those two would look like exact doubles.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
This can occur when a company impersonates an airline’s customer-service number or site, often by buying a sponsored ad on a search platform.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Staff spotted a suspicious invitation to a meeting earlier on Friday and realised it was "spear-phishing" - which impersonates a trusted source.
From BBC ● May 9, 2025
With Thursday’s criminal complaint containing allegations of phone conversations in which Mizuhara actually impersonates Ohtani to gain access to the money, I believe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
“What happens if an international entity — a cybercriminal or a nation state — impersonates someone. What is the impact? Do we have any recourse?”
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2023
The scene where, in a German park on an occasion of great pomp, he impersonates the statue of a Prince, is one of the author's triumphs—never less delightful at a re-reading.
From Masters of the English Novel A Study of Principles and Personalities by Richard Burton
Last year, the AI startup removed chatbots that impersonated popular Disney characters such as Elsa and Darth Vader after the Burbank entertainment behemoth sent a cease-and-desist letter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Campbell appealed, saying one of her fellow trustees, lawyer Bianka Hellmich, forged her signature and impersonated her using a fake email address to misdirect money that was intended for the charity.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Scammers have long impersonated government agencies to send fake law-enforcement requests, and such tricks aren’t especially difficult to pull off, said Conor Freeman, an Irish cybersecurity researcher who has been tracking the Revolut hack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
In San Diego, attorneys working for the city have been impersonated by scammers.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
He supposed it made sense in hindsight that a nightmare had impersonated the truth, then settled in his mind.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
The UK fashion site explained to customers that hackers gained access to an Asos employee account by "impersonating a trusted contact to obtain log in credentials".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Callers impersonating his department even recently targeted his own daughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Trump’s pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson, recently took to social media saying that people have been impersonating her and asking for a “processing fee” to help smooth the path to clemency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
The fabricated content appeared on X in posts impersonating legitimate French media outlets and falsely claimed that Attal had Parkinson's disease and that Philippe had contracted an illness.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Apparently the man whom Harry was impersonating, Runcorn, was intimidating.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
