as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
claimed that many doctors were frauds and mountebanks
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Recent Examples of mountebank
With tariffs on pharmaceuticals, the mountebank of Mar-A-Lago wants to punish a small democracy of 5.3 million people that for the past 60 years has worked its way into the top table of drug research and production: Ireland.
—
Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2025
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
The Republican, who is angling for the GOP nomination for president, staged a roundtable of scientific mountebanks on Wednesday to attack the vaccines.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023
The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
Berk was no mountebank or philistine.
—Mimi Kramer, Vulture, 10 May 2022
Another was Charles Colchester, a mountebank who also conjured Willie to the satisfaction of the first lady.
—John J. Miller, WSJ, 30 Oct. 2022
Or does the word seem a little shifty, denoting a modern-day mountebank (another great word), bent on self-promotion, unscrupulous precisely because no special degree is required?
—Will Jeakle, Forbes, 29 June 2021
Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 29 Mar. 2025
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
The Republican, who is angling for the GOP nomination for president, staged a roundtable of scientific mountebanks on Wednesday to attack the vaccines.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023
The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
Berk was no mountebank or philistine.
—Mimi Kramer, Vulture, 10 May 2022
Another was Charles Colchester, a mountebank who also conjured Willie to the satisfaction of the first lady.
—John J. Miller, WSJ, 30 Oct. 2022
Or does the word seem a little shifty, denoting a modern-day mountebank (another great word), bent on self-promotion, unscrupulous precisely because no special degree is required?
—Will Jeakle, Forbes, 29 June 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mountebank
Noun
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Holmes was convicted on four counts of fraud after lying to Theranos investors about her blood testing technology's reliability and was later sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2022.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
People.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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But this would come as the result of a cutback in government spending that is currently categorized by Trump Administration officials as either waste, fraud, or non-essential in nature.—
Sal Gilbertie,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The bot will see you now: Therapists in the U.S. are getting ready for a battle with A.I. pretenders.—
Natasha Frost,
New York Times,
25 Feb. 2025
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Without a bit more heart and soul, the spinoff is just a pretender in a nicely tailored suit.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA TODAY,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The votes were widely viewed as a sham and heavily criticized by the US at the time as well as by allies in Europe.—
Anna Chernova,
CNN,
24 Mar. 2025
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Six elections since have been widely dismissed as shams that concealed rising discontent.—
Nataliya Vasilyeva,
New York Times,
25 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This is a cruder example of how artificial intelligence is being used to create deep fakes.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
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As a bonus, this reusable fake is a fun prop to keep around for make-believe health care provider visits.—
Kimberly Stoney,
Parents,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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No, the danger is what those charlatans exploit, namely our vulnerability to the narrative of natural healing, the irresistible allure of conquering cancer with a simple, intuitive approach that lies entirely within our power, no chemo or surgery required.—
Alan Levinovitz,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
28 Feb. 2025
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There was too much history for anyone to dismantle, let alone a charlatan like Hitler.—
Luke Berryman,
New York Daily News,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Famous athlete revealed as Fuzzy Peas on Masked Singer while Ken Jeong shocks with Lord Farquaad look on wild Shrek Night With a final dramatic flourish of his cape and a quack, Lucky Duck departed, and it was revealed that Coral would be joining Paparazzo in the final six.—
Lauren Huff,
EW.com,
27 Feb. 2025
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Milla — a young woman who feels disillusioned by doctors that treat her like a recalcitrant child, directing even conversations about her treatment to her father instead of her — finds false security in quacks selling enemas and juice cleanses.—
Angie Han,
The Hollywood Reporter,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
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That specific kind of grift is known as an impostor scam.—
Alana Semuels,
TIME,
18 Sep. 2024
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At minimum, the Richards bit — which, admittedly, some liked more than others — rolls out a red carpet for Leon to steal the show as a Jewish-doctor impostor trying to snap Richards into it after his Groats diagnosis.—
Larry Fitzmaurice,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Mountebank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mountebank. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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