impersonation
n.the act of pretending to be someone else, usually to trick people or get something you want. It is often used when someone pretends to be a famous person or a police officer.
n.the act of pretending to be another person, typically for fraudulent or deceptive purposes. Often involves the use of physical appearance, voice, or professional credentials to deceive others.
“The actor's impersonation of the president was very realistic.”
“The police arrested the man for impersonation after he tried to enter the bank as a security guard.”
“The legal case centered on the defendant's sophisticated impersonation of a high-ranking official, which allowed him to bypass several layers of internal security before the breach was discovered.”
“The more connections a scammer can identify, the more impersonation attempts they can make, and the higher their returns on the costs of targeting and sending emails.”
“Rachel Dratch did an impersonation of her on Jimmy Fallon.”
From im- + person + -ation or impersonate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.