Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for mountebank

mountebank

[ moun-tuh-bangk ]

noun

  1. a person who sells quack medicines, as from a platform in public places, attracting and influencing an audience by tricks, storytelling, etc.

    Synonyms: pitchman

  2. any charlatan or quack.

    Synonyms: fraud, pretender, phony



verb (used without object)

  1. to act or operate as a mountebank.

mountebank

/ ˈmaʊntɪˌbæŋk /

noun

  1. (formerly) a person who sold quack medicines in public places
  2. a charlatan; fake
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. intr to play the mountebank
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Derived Forms

  • ˌmounteˈbankery, noun
Discover More

Other Words From

  • moun·te·bank·er·y [moun, -t, uh, -bangk-, uh, -ree], noun
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of mountebank1

1570–80; (< Middle French ) < Italian montimbanco one who climbs on a bench, equivalent to mont ( are ) to climb ( mount 1 ) + -im-, variant of in on + banco bench ( bank 2 )
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of mountebank1

C16: from Italian montambanco a climber on a bench, from montare to mount ² + banco bench (see also bank 1)
Discover More

Example Sentences

Mencken described Bryan as “a charlatan, a mountebank, a zany without sense or dignity.”

From Salon

“He was, in fact, a charlatan, a mountebank . . .” But, unlike Bryan and Trump, Kissinger had a deep sense of purpose.

From Salon

The Republican, who is angling for the GOP nomination for president, staged a roundtable of scientific mountebanks on Wednesday to attack the vaccines.

Jay was so enamored of Malini that he devoted an entire chapter of his book, “Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women,” to the man he described as the “last of the mountebanks.”

In this world in which self-interested mountebanks command followers on social media and the airwaves by the millions, it doesn’t take much for a misinformation and disinformation campaign to cloud people’s minds.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Mount Desert Islandmounted