imposture

/im-ˈpäs-chər/

Late Latin impostura, from Latin impositus, impostus, past participle of imponere

noun

  1. the act or practice of deceiving by means of an assumed character or name

  2. an instance of imposture

imposture fraud sham fake humbug counterfeit mean a thing made to seem other than it is. imposture applies to any situation in which a spurious object or performance is passed off as genuine. fraud usually implies a deliberate perversion of the truth.