Charlatan

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Charlatan \Char"la*tan\, n. [F. charlatan, fr. It. ciarlatano,
     fr. ciarlare to chartter, prate; of imitative origin; cf. It.
     zirlare to whistle like a thrush.]
     One who prates much in his own favor, and makes unwarrantable
     pretensions; a quack; an impostor; an empiric; a mountebank.
     [1913 Webster] Charlatanic



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  charlatan
       n : a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with
           tricks or jokes [syn: {mountebank}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  30 Moby Thesaurus words for "charlatan":
     blagueur, bluff, bluffer, charlatanic, charlatanish, fake, faker,
     fourflusher, fraud, horse doctor, humbug, impersonator, impostor,
     malingerer, medicaster, medicine man, medicine monger, mountebank,
     phony, poser, poseur, pretender, quack, quackish, quacksalver,
     quackster, ringer, saltimbanco, sham, shammer