a person who pretends to be somebody else in order to trick people 冒名顶替者;冒名行骗者 Word Originlate 16th cent. (in early use spelled imposture, and sometimes confused with imposture in meaning): from French imposteur, from late Latin impostor, contraction of impositor, from Latin imponere ‘inflict, deceive’ (from in- ‘in, upon’ + ponere ‘put’).