Definition of CHARLATAN

charlatan

Meanings

Plural: charlatans

Noun

  • a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes
  • A mountebank, someone who addresses crowds in the street; (especially), an itinerant seller of medicines or drugs.
  • A malicious trickster; a fake person, especially one who deceives for personal profit.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle French charlatan, from Old Italian ciarlatano (“quack”), a blend of ciarlatore (“chatterer”) + cerretano (“hawker, quack”, literally “native of Cerreto”) (Cerreto di Spoleto being a village in Umbria, known for its quacks).

Scrabble Score: 14

charlatan is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
charlatan is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
charlatan is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 16

charlatan is a valid Words With Friends word