impersonate

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

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. 2018

Related Words for impersonating

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

Examples from the Web for impersonating

Contemporary Examples of impersonating

Allen admitted that he had been worried about impersonating Walt Jr. but thought it would be discriminatory to leave him out.
One Man 'Breaking Bad' Kills on Stage
Nico Hines
August 27, 2014
Man, is he mixed up in a whole lot of different stuff, from karate to Elvis impersonating to fiction writing.
Paul Kevin Curtis and J. Everett Dutschke: Epic Feud and Ricin Letters
Winston Ross
April 25, 2013
Two presenters on Sydney's 2Day FM radio station called the hospital while impersonating the Queen and Prince Charles.
Post Mortem Will Show That Kate Middleton Hoax Nurse Jacintha Hung Herself
Tom Sykes
December 12, 2012
But that particular line was never uttered by Palin, it came from Tina Fey impersonating the former governor.
Sarah Palin Emails Reveal Divorce Jokes, Exhaustion, and Trouble With Levi Johnston
February 25, 2012
Whether riding a horse, conducting an orchestra, or impersonating an officer, Williams packs in a manic number of characters.
Elmo's True Hollywood Story
Marly Faherty
October 21, 2011

Historical Examples of impersonating

How can we prevent men, in such livery, from impersonating our own agents?
Long Live the King
Mary Roberts Rinehart
What that meant was very plain—he was impersonating the deity!
A Tramp Abroad, Complete
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
He sees himself as, and feels that he is actually, the character he is impersonating.
The Victorious Attitude
Orison Swett Marden
That you are impersonating a man whose property you have stolen.
A Desperate Voyage
Edward Frederick Knight
But even a versatile actor might pause at impersonating a President.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931
Various

British Dictionary definitions for impersonating

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 impersonating

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.