im ‧ per ‧ son ‧ ate /ɪmˈpɜːsəneɪt $ -ɜːr-/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to pretend to be someone else by copying their appearance, voice, and behaviour, especially in order to deceive people:
Do you know it is a very serious offence to impersonate a police officer?
2 . to copy someone’s voice and behaviour, especially in order to make people laugh:
In the film, he amusingly impersonates a woman.
—impersonation /ɪmˌpɜːsəˈneɪʃ ə n $ -ɜːr-/ noun [uncountable and countable] :
He’s renowned for his Elvis impersonation.
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THESAURUS
■ to pretend to be someone or something
▪ impersonate to copy the way that a famous person speaks and behaves, in order to entertain people, or to pretend to have an official job, in order to trick people:
He’s brilliant at impersonating the President.
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It’s illegal to impersonate a police officer.
▪ pose as somebody to pretend to be someone else, especially someone in an official position, so that it is easier for you to do something bad or illegal:
He posed as a doctor to gain access to the hospital.
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There have been cases of thieves posing as telephone engineers.
▪ masquerade as somebody/something disapproving to pretend to be someone or something else – used especially when saying that someone or something is not who they claim to be:
Their advertisements are always full of people in white coats masquerading as scientists.
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It’s not real news – it’s government propaganda masquerading as news.