Meanings
present singular third person impersonates · participle present impersonating · participle past impersonated · past impersonated
- transitivecomputingTo operate with the permissions of a different user account.
- obsoletetransitiveTo manifest in corporeal form; to personify.
The shepherds were impersonated, then the Magi, finally Herod himself. In course of time all the elements of a fully developed Nativity play had thus been introduced.
1918, Paul Studer, Le mystère d'Adam, an Anglo-Norman drama of the twelfth centurySynonyms: embody, impersonize
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo pretend to be (a different person); to assume the identity of, especially when there is an intent to deceive.
verbTo manifest in corporeal form; to personify.
More synonyms by meaning
verbpretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Italic*en
- Proto-Italic*en-
- Latinin-
- Middle Englishin-
- Englishim-
- Latinpersōna
- Anglo-Normanpersoune
- Middle Englishpersoun
- Englishperson
- Englishimpersonate
From im- + person + -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian олицетворявам
- олицетворявам (olicetvorjavam)assume the identity of
Catalan imitar, suplantar
- imitarassume the identity of
- suplantarassume the identity of
- fer-se passar perassume the identity of
- encarnarembody, personify
Chinese Mandarin 假冒
- 假冒 (jiǎmaò)assume the identity of
Esperanto imiti
- imitiassume the identity of
Finnish esiintyä, esittää
- esiintyäassume the identity of
- esittääassume the identity of
French imiter
- imiterassume the identity of
German sich ausgeben als, nachahmen
- sich ausgeben alsassume the identity of
- nachahmenassume the identity of
- verkörpernassume the identity of
Portuguese imitar, passar por
- imitarassume the identity of
- passar porassume the identity of
- passar-se porassume the identity of
Russian имперсонировать, выдавать себя за
- имперсонировать (impersonirovatʹ)assume the identity of
- выдавать себя за (vydavatʹ sebja za)assume the identity of
Zulu ukulingisela
- ukulingiselaassume the identity of
Cite this entry
impersonate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impersonate
“impersonate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impersonate. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “impersonate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/impersonate.
Source: impersonate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.