Webster's English Dictionary

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imposture

im.pos.ture \im-'pa:s-ch*r\ n [LL impostura, fr. L impositus, impostus, pp. 
   of imponere)X : the act or conduct of an impostor : DECEPTION; esp : fra 
   udulent impersonationCOUNTERFEIT mean a thing imposed on one side by false 
   pretenses. IMPOSTURE applies to any situation in which a spurious object or 
   action is passed off as genuine; FRAUD usu. implies a deliberate perversion 
   of the truth, but applied to a person it may suggest merely pretense and 
   hypocrisy; SHAM applies to fraudulent imitation of a real thing or action; 
   FAKE implies an imitation of or substitution for the genuine but does not 
   necessarily imply dishonesty; HUMBUG suggests elaborate pretense usu. so 
   flagrant as to be transparent; COUNTERFEIT applies esp. to the close 
   imitation of something valuable SYN syn IMPOSTURE, FRAUD, SHAM, FAKE, 
   HUMBUG,