poseur
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does poseur mean? A poseur, commonly spelled poser, is when you act like someone you're not or when you're perceived to be inauthentic. So-called emo scene kids might be called poseurs.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of poseur
From French, dating back to 1880–85; see origin at pose 1, -eur
Explanation
"Strike a pose," sang Madonna in her most famous song, "Vogue." But if the pose you're striking is fake, pretentious, or arrogant, you're a poseur. Be yourself: it's cooler. It's one thing to be smart, funny, or cool. It's another thing to pretend to be that way: that's the life of a poseur. (Say it in the French way: poh-ZUHR.) It's all too easy to spot a poseur from their ridiculous posing. Why poseurs think that they come across as anything other than fake is beyond me. They must be really insecure to think they need to pretend to be something they're not. Every once in a while, though, a poseur can fake it till they make it. Then they're no longer a poseur.
Vocabulary lists containing poseur
English Words Derived from French, List 10
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Ready Player One
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Hole in My Life
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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.
Does this purveyor of nonfiction cinema have any real truth to express, or is he just a poseur, a sham, a sellout?
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 23, 2022
But there's not even a poseur version of it.
From Salon • Jun. 15, 2020
Tom Callahan, an ex-Marine, knows a flimflammer, a bugiardo, a poseur, a gasconader when he hears one.
From Golf Digest • May 6, 2020
Wilde, the clever but somewhat vacuous celebrity poseur, became an increasingly passionate presence on stage and an engaging quote machine for the anarchic American press.
From Washington Post • Jul. 31, 2018
He heard their excited argument, and then, an intentional poseur, he shook each paw daintily in turn, stepped delicately down from the rocks, and vanished from the men’s sight.
From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford
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.
