1
general::
to pretend to be someone or something
impersonate
to copy the way that a famous person speaks and behaves, in order to entertain people, or to pretend to have an official job, in order to trick people:
• He’s brilliant at impersonating the President. • It’s illegal to impersonate a police officer.
pose as somebody
to pretend to be someone else, especially someone in an official position, so that it is easier for you to do something bad or illegal:
• He posed as a doctor to gain access to the hospital. • There have been cases of thieves posing as telephone engineers.
masquerade as somebody/something
disapproving to pretend to be someone or something else – used especially when saying that someone or something is not who they claim to be:
• Their advertisements are always full of people in white coats masquerading as scientists. • It’s not real news – it’s government propaganda masquerading as news.
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