personating

verb

present participle of personate
as in mocking
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

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for personating
  1. mocking
  2. impersonating
  3. playing
  4. imitating
  5. portraying
  6. acting
Verb
  • Vrabel was mocking but wasn't necessarily totally accurate, either.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Five times in the last two months, the president has sneered at and insulted female reporters, mocking their appearance or dismissing their credentials.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of mocking
Verb
  • Colbert gifted Kimmel his Captain America shield, did a sketch-within-an-interview with his son impersonating a Kiwi police officer, and shaved for our amusement.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Researchers noticed that stores impersonating different companies shared technical characteristics.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of impersonating
Verb
  • The Miami Hurricanes are back on the road and playing under the lights in a key Atlantic Coast Conference game.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 4 Oct. 2026
  • And his relatives in turn gave notes to the actors playing their younger selves and were encouraged to interrogate Ba as his coming-of-age story was dramatized.
    — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Speaking of the oversized, the collection’s Handloom Cardigan fits the bill but spares you from imitating a balloon, courtesy of those vertical stripes (also known as the oldest optical trick in the fashion book).
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Her makeup could not be prettier or more ideal for imitating, with its barely-there shimmer shadow, the softest possible wing, and gloss in what appears to be her natural lip color.
    — Marci Robin, Allure, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of imitating
Verb
  • The Republican candidate for California governor is trying to make a scandal out of his Democratic opponent, Xavier Becerra, portraying himself as the son of Mexican immigrants.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Cruise is actually playing an actor, Curtis Markson, who in turn is portraying Digger Rockwell in a satirical play called Fossil Fools.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of portraying
Verb
  • Kylie Jenner is following in her big sister Kim Kardashian’s footsteps and trying out acting.
    — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2026
  • After his acting career, Kelker-Kelly became a professional pilot.
    — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of acting
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.

Browse Nearby Words

personates
personating
personator
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Cite this Entry

“Personating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personating. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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