charlatan
noun
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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
Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2024
The cynicism is, of course, rooted in Trump’s being a pathological liar and a charlatan, a flim-flam man.
—Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 July 2024
Suddenly the guy who used to describe Trump as a dangerous and tawdry charlatan was telling anyone who’d listen that Trump was the only person fit to lead this country.
—Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, 16 July 2024
Vance, who went on from the Marines to Ohio State and Yale Law School, was once fiercely critical of Trump, calling him a charlatan and worse during his successful 2016 presidential run.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 15 July 2024
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“Charlatan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charlatan. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
charlatan
noun
from Italian ciarlatano "charlatan," an altered form of cerretano (same meaning), literally, "inhabitant of Cerreto (village in Italy)"
Medical Definition
charlatan
noun
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