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Impersonate vs Fake - What's the difference?

impersonate | fake |

As verbs the difference between impersonate and fake

is that impersonate is to pretend to be (a different person), to assume the identity of while fake is to cheat; to swindle; to steal; to rob.

As an adjective fake is

not real; false, fraudulent.

As a noun fake is

something which is not genuine, or is presented fraudulently.

impersonate

English

Verb

(en-verb)
  • To pretend to be (a different person), to assume the identity of.
  • The conman managed to impersonate several executives.
  • (obsolete) To manifest in corporeal form; to personify.
  • Synonyms

    * (assume identity of) personate * (manifest in corporeal form) embody

    Derived terms

    * impersonation * impersonator

    fake

    English

    Etymology 1

    (wikipedia fake) The origin is not known with certainty, although first attested in 1775

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Not real; false, fraudulent.
  • Which fur coat looks fake ?
    Synonyms
    * See also
    Antonyms
    * genuine

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something which is not genuine, or is presented fraudulently.
  • A trick; a swindle.
  • (soccer) Move meant to deceive an opposing player, used for gaining advantage when dribbling an opponent.
  • Synonyms
    * (soccer move) feint, (ice hokey move) deke

    Verb

    (fak)
  • To cheat; to swindle; to steal; to rob.
  • To make; to construct; to do. (rfexample)
  • To modify fraudulently, so as to make an object appear better or other than it really is; as, to fake a bulldog, by burning his upper lip and thus artificially shortening it.
  • To make a counterfeit, to counterfeit, to forge, to falsify.
  • To make a false display of, to affect, to feign, to simulate.
  • Synonyms
    * (To modify fraudulently) adulterate * (To make a false display) pass off, pose
    Derived terms
    * fake out * faker

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), to coil a rope .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nautical) One of the circles or windings of a cable or hawser, as it lies in a coil; a single turn or coil.
  • Verb

    (fak)
  • (nautical) To coil (a rope, line, or hawser), by winding alternately in opposite directions, in layers usually of zigzag or figure of eight form, to prevent twisting when running out.