as in to play
to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior likes to personate the man of the world, but he's still the small-town hick that he always was

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of personate Till’s motifs swept though the ensemble, as horns, clarinets, bassoons, violin all had a chance to personate the character. By Libby Hanssen, kansascity.com, 3 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for personate
Verb
  • Engage Your Senses In a shared office environment, playing loud music or lighting a scented candle is frowned upon.
    Kate Wieczorek, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
  • While Anderson played for the Marlins against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in April, he was designated for assignment and then released ahead of facing the Sox in Miami.
    LaMond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 28 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Bonsall, who was playing in a band at the time, had discovered there was a man who had been impersonating him as a way to victimize women.
    Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2025
  • The company shut down in 2021, less than a week after The New York Times article outlined that Ozy’s Samir Rao, the firm’s chief operating officer, had previously impersonated a YouTube executive during a conference call with potential investors.
    Filip Timotija, The Hill, 29 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Emmy-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser, the lead of game show drama The Luckiest Man in America, came close to life imitating art and being a contestant himself.
    Simon Thompson, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
  • The company uses data and AI learning to simulate attacks that go beyond just imitating an individual’s voice – like most modern sophisticated phishing attacks, the technology uses details about someone’s family, background, personality and more.
    Laya Neelakandan, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • And my wife would probably mock me for not getting meat, or something else.
    Thomas Wheatley, Axios, 31 Mar. 2025
  • Now mock drafts expect the Seahawks will try to improve their offensive line or add another wide receiver for Darnold.
    Jim Sergent, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • Kramer portrays an investigator working on the case.
    Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 10 Apr. 2025
  • Lowden would follow in the footsteps of Matthew Macfadyen, Colin Firth, David Rintoul, Peter Cushing and Laurence Olivier, who have all portrayed the iconic literary character Mr. Darcy.
    Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 9 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Several senior agency leaders, including the chief human resources officer, acting commissioner and acting general counsel, have resigned or been demoted since January.
    Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 5 Apr. 2025
  • Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will continue to serve as acting president until the new president is inaugurated.
    Joyce Lee and Ju-min Park, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Personate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personate. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!