PERSONATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does personate mean? 

• PERSONATE (verb)
  The verb PERSONATE has 2 senses:

1. pretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions

2. attribute human qualities to something

  Familiarity information: PERSONATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERSONATE (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

impersonate; personate; pose

Context example:

She posed as the Czar's daughter

Hypernyms (to "personate" is one way to...):

betray; deceive; lead astray (cause someone to believe an untruth)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "personate"):

masquerade (pretend to be someone or something that you are not)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

personation (acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture)

personation (imitating the mannerisms of another person)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Attribute human qualities to something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

personate; personify

Context example:

The Greeks personated their gods ridiculous

Hypernyms (to "personate" is one way to...):

ascribe; assign; attribute; impute (attribute or credit to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

You have been brought there to personate someone, and the real person is imprisoned in this chamber.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)