impersonation

American  

[im-pur-suh-ney-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. )

Example Sentences

It was like staring at someone doing an impersonation that was one part Lt.

From Los Angeles Times

An impersonation of the pompous, blustering second lieutenant.

From Literature

Rhonda had fallen victim to what is known as impersonation scam, where a fraudster pretends to be from a bank or other financial institution.

From BBC

Meta was last year ordered to step up safeguards on Facebook after scammers used images of top officials in impersonation schemes.

From Barron's

Under the Online Safety Act 2023, platforms must act if impersonation leads to illegal behaviour such as threats or fraud.

From BBC