charlatan

/ˈʃɑːlətən/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈʃɑːrlətən/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈshär-lə-tən/ (ame, mw)

charlatan — noun

  • charlatansingular
  • charlatansplural

1. someone who falsely claims to be an expert — often a doctor, healer, or scholar

1.名詞C2
釋義

someone who falsely claims to be an expert — often a doctor, healer, or scholar — in order to gain money, trust, or attention from people who do not know better.

例句

Amihan exposed the village doctor as a charlatan after his pills made her grandmother worse.

expose [someone] as a charlatan — typical pattern for unmasking

The art dealer turned out to be a charlatan who had been selling fake paintings for years.

turn out to be a charlatan — common collocation

同義詞
  • quack

    informal; specifically a fake doctor

  • fraud

    broader — any deceiver, not only those claiming expertise

  • impostor

    someone pretending to be a specific person or hold a specific role

  • mountebank

    very formal/literary; a flamboyant traveling fraud

反義詞

文法句型

a charlatan

expose someone as a charlatan

用法筆記

Often used of people pretending to have medical, scientific, or spiritual expertise. Carries a tone of moral judgment — stronger than 'fake' or 'phony'.

常見錯誤

❌He is a charlatan at cooking' (using it for ordinary lack of skill).
✅He is a charlatan who claims to cure cancer with herbs.
💡'charlatan' requires deliberate deception about expertise, not just being bad at something.