mountebank

[moun-tuh-bangk]

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noun

a person who sells quack medicines, as from a platform in public places, attracting and influencing an audience by tricks, storytelling, etc.
any charlatan or quack.

verb (used without object)

to act or operate as a mountebank.

Origin of mountebank

1570–80; (< Middle French) < Italian montimbanco one who climbs on a bench, equivalent to mont(are) to climb (see mount¹) + -im-, variant of in on + banco bench (see bank²)

Related formsmoun·te·bank·er·y

[moun-tuh-bangk-uh-ree] /ˈmaʊn təˌbæŋk ə ri/, noun

Synonyms for mountebank

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1. pitchman. 2. phony, pretender, fraud.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mountebank

cheat, swindler, grifter, imposter

Examples from the Web for mountebank

Historical Examples of mountebank

It was not of the least use to me that I knew he was not the illustrious general, but simply a mountebank.
A Day's Ride
Charles James Lever
If I were a mountebank or a charlatan I would claim that it cures a hundred diseases.
The Gypsies
Charles G. Leland
As a mountebank, a juggler, a quack doctor—I spurned the very idea.
Japhet in Search of a Father
Frederick Marryat
Anything less would condemn a man as a fool or a mountebank.
The Message
Alec John Dawson
But his natural gift was to be a mountebank, a clown, a circus Hercules.
Casa Braccio, Volumes 1 and 2 (of 2)
F. Marion Crawford

British Dictionary definitions for mountebank

mountebank

noun

(formerly) a person who sold quack medicines in public places
a charlatan; fake

verb

(intr) to play the mountebank

Derived Formsmountebankery, noun

Word Origin for mountebank

C16: from Italian montambanco a climber on a bench, from montare to mount ² + banco bench (see also bank 1)

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 mountebank

"a doctor that mounts a bench in the market, and boasts his infallible remedies and cures" [Johnson], 1570s, from Italian montambanco, contraction of monta in banco "quack, juggler," literally "mount on bench" (to be seen by crowd), from monta, imperative of montare "to mount" (see mount (v.)) + banco, variant of banca "bench" (see bank (n.2)). Figurative and extended senses from 1580s.