Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

imposture

/ɪmˈpɒstjʊə(ɹ)/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.71 in modern English

Syllables: im-pos-ture
IPA: /ɪmˈpɒstjʊə(ɹ)/

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Among an unenlightened people every impoſture is likely to take place, for ignorance is the parent of credulity."
"There is something very horrible in the laugh of a dying man: Hovering on the verge of both worlds, he seems to give the lie to both, and proclaim the enjoyments of one, and the hopes of another, alike an imposture."
""I thought that you were a genuine mathematician—I vouched for it," replied Sir Fergus with more regret than anything else. "And the extent of your achievement has been to contrive a vulgar imposture—in the guise of an ingenious inventor to swindle society by a sham automaton that doesn't even work.""

Etymology

From Middle French imposture, from Late Latin impostura, Latin impostus.

Origin

Source language: Middle French

Word Breakdown

Root: imposture, impostura, impostus

Usage

Inflected Forms

impostures (plural)

Derived Forms

imposturage impostured

Synonyms

cheating impersonation

Questions

How do you pronounce imposture?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɪmˈpɒstjʊə(ɹ)/.
What does imposture mean?: The act or conduct of an impostor; deception practiced under a false or assumed character; fraud or imposition.
Where does imposture come from?: It is traced to Middle French.

How to pronounce imposture

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “imposture”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɪmˈpɒstjʊə(ɹ)/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “imposture”.
Repeat and practice — Say “imposture” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.