Definition of CHARLATAN (original) (raw)
2
: one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability : fraud, faker
a charlatan willing to do and say virtually anything to remain in the spotlight—
Alan Brinkley
Did you know?
In medieval Italy, people roamed throughout the land selling fake remedies and making false claims about their healing abilities. Many of these pretenders reputedly came from a village called Cerreto, and as a result, cerretano (meaning “inhabitant of Cerreto”) became an epithet for a quack physician. In addition, these frauds used a practiced patter to attract customers, like the chatter of a circus barker. The Italian word for “to chatter” is ciarlare, and chattering was so associated with the cerretano that the spelling of the word shifted to ciarlatano. By the early 17th century, English speakers had anglicized the Italian word to charlatan and adopted it as their own.
Synonyms
Examples of charlatan in a Sentence
the famed faith healer turned out to be a charlatan
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
One exception is Cotton Marcus, the charlatan at the center of The Last Exorcism. —A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 30 July 2024 What’s interesting about it is that in the book, the Dragon Queen is very obviously a con woman and a charlatan right away, and she was based on someone that’s real. —Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024 This is not a situation where, say, an elderly person of limited means, knowledge and capacity was duped by a charlatan and there’s a viable case for unconscionability. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 27 Sep. 2024 Nadia, the Russian mail-order bride of Jez Butterworth’s 2001 film Birthday Girl, bounces unnervingly among multiple guises: seducer, charlatan, love interest. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 13 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for charlatan 
Word History
Etymology
Italian ciarlatano, alteration of cerretano, literally, inhabitant of Cerreto, from Cerreto, Italy
First Known Use
1618, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of charlatan was in 1618
Dictionary Entries Near charlatan
Cite this Entry
“Charlatan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charlatan. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
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Last Updated: 18 Nov 2024 - Updated example sentences
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