What is the Latin word for impostor?

The usual Latin words for “impostor” are fraudō, īnstruō, circumscriptor; also quadruplātor, praestigĭātor, plānus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“impostor” in Latin

fraudōto cheat, defraud, swindle; to deprive of; to embezzle a thing from a person, purloin, steal īnstruōto build in or into, insert; erect, construct; to arrange, organise or organize, plan; devise; to prepare (for), provide circumscriptordefrauder, deceiver, cheat quadruplātorA public informer who received a fourth part.praestigĭātora juggler plānuslevel, flat, even; intelligible, clear fallōto deceive, beguile, trick, cheat, delude, ensnare, disappoint; to mistake, be mistaken, deceive oneself; to escape the falsārĭusa forger veterātororator, one wedded to routine; old fox, slyboots, trickster, crafty fellow

The English word impostor itself goes back to Latin impŏsĭtor.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

impostor

fraudator: homo ad fallendum paratus or instructus (a person who imposes upon others): circumscriptor (an overreacher, especially one who endeavors to derive advantage from the inexperience of young persons): quadruplator (one who, by fraud and cheating, endeavors to get for himself the property of others): praestigiator (one who cheats by tricks and artifice): planus (an itinerant mountebank): falsus (of a false prophet; Vid: Suet., Caes., 81; Tiberius, 14): falsarius (one who imitates another’s hand). (☞ Deceptor only in Sen., Thyest., 140; nebulo, a vain boaster, does not belong here.) A clever impostor, homo ad fraudem acutus: an old and practised impostor, veterator; homo totus ex fraude factus (opposed to homo sine fuco et fallaciis): to be a complete impostor, totum ex fraude et fallaciis constare.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for impostor?: The usual Latin words for “impostor” are fraudō, īnstruō, circumscriptor; also quadruplātor, praestigĭātor, plānus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.