impersonate
[verb im-pur-suh-neyt; adjective im-pur-suh-nit, -neyt]
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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.
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RELATED WORDS
portray, imitate, mimic, represent, play, ditto, do, perform, fake, mirror, act, enact, ape, personate, playact
Nearby words
- imperscriptible,
- impersonal,
- impersonalism,
- impersonality,
- impersonalize,
- impersonation,
- impersonator,
- impertinence,
- impertinency,
- impertinent
Origin of impersonate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for impersonating
impersonate
verb (tr)
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
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper