impersonation

American  

[im-pur-suh-nay-shuhn] / ɪmˌpɜr səˈneɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of pretending to be someone else, with intent to mislead or deceive.

   The argument for requiring voter IDs is that states must guard against impersonation and other flagrant voter fraud.

2. the act of mimicking the voice, mannerisms, etc., of another person, usually someone well-known and especially in order to entertain.

   As a youth worker he found he could make teenagers laugh by doing impersonations of movie stars.

3. the act of playing the part of a character in a play.

   In the one-woman play, her impersonations of minor characters don't ring with authenticity, and her body movements are a bit severe.

---

Etymology

Origin of impersonation

im- ¹ ( def. ) + personat(e) ¹ ( def. ) + -ion ( def. )

Explanation

Impersonation is when someone pretends to be another person. If you pretend to be your twin brother all day at school, that's impersonation. There are a few different forms of impersonation — some of them are harmless, like comedians who use impersonation to mimic the voices and mannerisms of famous people, or actors who play historical figures in movies. Other kinds of impersonation are harmful, including when a thief takes someone's identity (including Social Security number and bank information) in order to steal their money. Impersonation has the Latin roots in-, "into," and persona, "person."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

impersonation

And though his impersonation is spot-on, even a stellar character actor like Pattinson can’t voice his way out of platitudinous dialogue.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

At REDCAT, the superb Rosemarie DeWitt assumes Marvel’s place, standing in for Ford but never attempting anything as crass as an impersonation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Revolut called the incident “a sophisticated external impersonation scam where an unauthorized third party utilized a legitimate government agency domain email to submit fraudulent requests for information.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Although he has gone into hiding saying he fears for his life, he has said he will appear in court later this month to answer charges including forgery and impersonation.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

She was great as Sooze Grossman and Eleanor Kelliher, but her best impersonation was of Penny Midland, a stylish fifty-year-old woman who worked part-time at an art gallery my parents visited on a regular basis.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris