charlatan Hear it!

charlatan definition

char·la·tan (s̸här′lə tən)

noun

a person who pretends to have expert knowledge or skill that he or she does not have; fake; mountebank

Etymology: Fr < It ciarlatano, a quack < cerretano, one who cries out in the market place < VL cerretanus, seller of papal indulgences at Cerreto, town in Italy: infl. by It ciarlare, to prate

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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