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Synonyms

personate

1 American  
[pur-suh-neyt] / ˈpɜr səˌneɪt /

verb (used with object)

personated, personating

  1. to act or portray (a character in a play, a part, etc.).

  2. to assume the character or appearance of; pass oneself off as, especially with fraudulent intent; impersonate.

  3. to represent in terms of personal properties or characteristics; personify.

verb (used without object)

personated, personating

  1. to act or play a part.

personate 2 American  
[pur-suh-nit, -neyt] / ˈpɜr sə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

adjective

  1. Botany.

    1. (of a bilabiate corolla) masklike.

    2. having the lower lip pushed upward so as to close the gap between the lips, as in the snapdragon.

  2. Zoology.

    1. having a masked or disguised form, as the larvae of certain insects.

    2. having masklike markings.

personate 1 British  
/ ˈpɜːsəˌneɪt /

verb

  1. to act the part of (a character in a play); portray

  2. a less common word for personify

  3. criminal law to assume the identity of (another person) with intent to deceive

"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
personate 2 British  
/ ˈpɜːsənɪt, -ˌneɪt /

adjective

  1. (of the corollas of certain flowers) having two lips in the form of a face

"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

Other Word Forms

  • personately adverb
  • personation noun
  • personative adjective
  • personator noun

Etymology

Origin of personate1

First recorded in 1590–1600; verb use of Latin persōnātus “wearing a mask, masked”; person ( def. )

Origin of personate2

First recorded in 1750–60; from New Latin, Latin; persōnātus “masked”; persona, -ate 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He was, besides, a ventriloquist, and could thus personate and imitate any character or any voice he chose.

From Auricular Confession and Popish Nunneries Volumes I. and II., Complete by Hogan, William

They were allowed to choose their own diversion, and they fixed that their father and the Grand Duchess should appear as Oberon and Titania, and that every guest should personate some fairy character.

From Baron Bruno Or, the Unbelieving Philosopher, and Other Fairy Stories by Morgan, Louisa

Whether in these boxes full of beauties one amongst them is intended by Leech to personate Mr. Smith’s “dreadfully bored” young lady, I cannot say.

From John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1 by Frith, William Powell

"That album," I said, pointing to it--"it contains, I suppose, the photographs of the people you have been employed to personate?"

From Laid up in Lavender by Weyman, Stanley J.

To assume the office or character of; to play; to personate; as, to act the hero.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.