imposture

English

Etymology

From Middle French imposture, from Late Latin impostura, Latin impostus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɒstjʊə(ɹ)/, /ɪmˈpɒst͡ʃə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

imposture (plural impostures)

1. The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition

   Synonym: cheating

   • 1774, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “Of the Earliest State of Greece”, in The Grecian History, from the Earliest State to the Death of Alexander the Great, volume I, London: […] J[ohn] and F[rancis] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 1:

     Among an unenlightened people every impoſture is likely to take place, for ignorance is the parent of credulity.

   • 1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 292:

     There is something very horrible in the laugh of a dying man: Hovering on the verge of both worlds, he seems to give the lie to both, and proclaim the enjoyments of one, and the hopes of another, alike an imposture.

Derived terms

• imposturage
• impostured

Translations

act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition; cheating

• Bulgarian: измама (bg) f (izmama), мошеничество (bg) n (mošeničestvo)
• Catalan: impostura (ca) f
• Dutch: oplichter (nl) c
• Esperanto: trompaĵo
• Italian: impostura (it) f
• Portuguese: impostura (pt) f
• Romanian: impostură (ro)
• Russian: надувательство (ru) n (naduvatelʹstvo)
• Spanish: impostura (es) f

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “imposture”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “imposture”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• simper out

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin impostūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pɔs.tyʁ/

Noun

imposture f (plural impostures)

1. imposture

Further reading

• “imposture”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /im.posˈtu.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: im‧po‧stù‧re

Noun

imposture f

1. plural of impostura

Anagrams

• stupiremo