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 (countable and uncountable, 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.

   • 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:

     "I thought that you were a genuine mathematician—I vouched for it," replied Sir Fergus with more regret than anything else. "And the extent of your achievement has been to contrive a vulgar imposture—in the guise of an ingenious inventor to swindle society by a sham automaton that doesn't even work."

Derived terms

• imposturage
• impostured

Translations

act or conduct of an impostor

• Bulgarian: измама (bg) f (izmama), мошеничество (bg) n (mošeničestvo)
• Catalan: impostura (ca) f
• Dutch: oplichterij (nl) f
• Esperanto: trompaĵo
• Finnish: toiseksi tekeytyminen
• French: imposture (fr) f
• Italian: impostura (it) f
• Polish: oszustwo (pl) n, mistyfikacja (pl) f, samozwaństwo n
• Portuguese: impostura (pt) f
• Romanian: impostură (ro)
• Russian: надува́тельство (ru) n (naduvátelʹstvo)
• Spanish: impostura (es) f

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “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

Related terms

• imposteur

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