WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
char•la•tan /ˈʃɑrlətən/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a person who pretends to have knowledge or skill;
fraud.
char•la•tan
(shär′lə tn),USA pronunciation n.
char•la•tan•ic
(shär′lə tan′ik),USA pronunciation char′la•tan′i•cal, char′la•tan•ish, char′la•tan•is′tic, adj.
char′la•tan′i•cal•ly, adv.
- a person who pretends to more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.
- Italian ciarlatano, equivalent. to ciarla(tore) chatterer (derivative of ciarlare to chatter; from imitative root) + (cerre)tano hawker, quack, literally, native of Cerreto, a village in Umbria, known for its quacks
- Middle French
- 1595–1605
- impostor, mountebank, fraud, fake, phony.
'charlatanic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):