personate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to act or portray (a character in a play, a part, etc.).
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to assume the character or appearance of; pass oneself off as, especially with fraudulent intent; impersonate.
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to represent in terms of personal properties or characteristics; personify.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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Botany.
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(of a bilabiate corolla) masklike.
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having the lower lip pushed upward so as to close the gap between the lips, as in the snapdragon.
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Zoology.
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having a masked or disguised form, as the larvae of certain insects.
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having masklike markings.
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verb
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to act the part of (a character in a play); portray
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a less common word for personify
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criminal law to assume the identity of (another person) with intent to deceive
adjective
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.
The real Garlinghouse reported this to Instagram, which took a look ... and then 72 hours later, informed him that after investigating the company had determined that he was not actually being personated.
From The Verge
The fact is, that although it may seem a contradiction in terms, yet Ma�tre Jerome was never so much in his own character as when he was personating somebody else.
From Project Gutenberg
Corolla personate, the palate on the lower lip projecting, often closing the throat; upper lip erect.
From Project Gutenberg
Madame de S�vign� only lamented that a little girl personated that great king.
From Project Gutenberg
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 Project Gutenberg
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.
