personate
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to act or portray (a character in a play, a part, etc.).
-
to assume the character or appearance of; pass oneself off as, especially with fraudulent intent; impersonate.
-
to represent in terms of personal properties or characteristics; personify.
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
Botany.
-
(of a bilabiate corolla) masklike.
-
having the lower lip pushed upward so as to close the gap between the lips, as in the snapdragon.
-
-
Zoology.
-
having a masked or disguised form, as the larvae of certain insects.
-
having masklike markings.
-
verb
-
to act the part of (a character in a play); portray
-
a less common word for personify
-
criminal law to assume the identity of (another person) with intent to deceive
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of personate1
First recorded in 1590–1600; verb use of Latin persōnātus “wearing a mask, masked”; see origin at person ( def. )
Origin of personate2
First recorded in 1750–60; from New Latin, Latin; persōnātus “masked”; see origin at 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.
Children delight to personate animals; and a fine genius could not better employ itself than in inventing a great many more plays, setting them to rhythmical words, describing what is to be done.
From Guide to the Kindergarten and Intermediate Class and Moral Culture of Infancy. by Mann, Mary E.
Anybody who could pretend for a moment to suppose that Mr. Eglinton by "making up" could personate "Abdullah" must be a fool.
From There is no Death by Marryatt, Florence
I forgot myself, and told her that Johnny had hired a man to personate a parson, and that she was not married at all.
From Out of a Labyrinth by Lynch, Lawrence L.
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
O, that she should have so much as ventured to personate either before him!
From Titan: A Romance Vol. II (of 2) by Jean Paul
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.
