charlatan-

1. Someone who falsely pretends to have expert knowledge or skills in order to deceive other people: It has been proven that fortune-tellers are charlatans.

A charlatan, who was a salesman in a jewelry store, tried to convince Jane that she could buy a diamond ring for much less than a cheap silver ring.

Synonyms: fake, fraud, deceiver, quack, impostor/imposter, cheat, swindler, trickster.

2. Etymology: from Italian ciarlatano, "babbler, idle talker"; from ciariare, "to babble, to patter"; an imitation of the sounds of empty talking. © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

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Characteristic of a person who tries to twist people around to serve his own advantage: The charlatanic salesman is always trying to convince people that what he is selling is worth much more than what he is charging.

Descriptive of anyone who pretends to have skills or knowledge of something which he or she does not really have or a reference to something that is not what it is claimed to be: The pharmaceutical company was accused of selling charlatanical medicines despite the fact that there was no evidence that such medical drugs actually cured anyone.

A reference to the way a person or people deceive others with declarations that everyone will be better off if he or she follows certain beliefs or practices: The religious leader charlatanically preached that the more people donated financially to his organization, the greater chance they would have of being protected by angelic beings now and into the future.

Conveying fraudulent or false promises or information: Although the politician had a good reputation for many years, he was finally exposed to be a charlatanish liar about an immoral incident that took place with a hotel maid when he was traveling in another country.

A deception or scheme used to swindle, to deceive, or to cheat others: The charlatanism of the physician resulted in more people suffering than being healed of their illnesses.

The financial advisor used a significant number of charlatanisms to get people to make useless investments that made him wealthy but caused many to lose great amounts of money.

Resembling knowledge which is actually not true; conveying false claims: There are some charlatanistic aspects of a few physicians which are considered unscientific and leave nature to cure their patients; however, such doctors take the credit for such results as well as fat fees.

A popular news anchorman has been suspended, or temporarily inactivated from his position, for making charlatanistic claims about the dangers he supposedly experienced while he was going to obtain the news and other possible charlatanistic statements that he might have made over the previous years.

A deception or trickery that can result in victims losing their valuables: There are charlatanries used by those claiming to be readers of water meters, for example, and while one is supposedly recording the data in the presence of the person who is living there, another one goes through the drawers in the bedroom and steals the resident's jewelry, cash, etc.

Another example of a charlatanry was experienced by a traveler who was pulling his suitcase and a small bag with his credit card, etc. under a bridge in New York. Two men approached him and one of them distracted the foreign visitor by saying that there were bird droppings on the back of his jacket and while the man was supposedly brushing the bird feces off, the other man grabbed the personal bag and both of them ran off before the victim could respond to the charlatanry that took place.

Misconceptions, cheating, or swindles used to gain monetary advantages: There are some gambling places that utilize charlatanships to defraud people into believing that they can win more money than they will lose.