Definition of MOUNTEBANK

mountebank

Meanings

Plural: mountebanks

Noun

  • a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes
  • One who sells dubious medicines.
  • One who sells by deception; a con artist.
  • Any boastful, false pretender.
  • An acrobat.

Verb

  • To act as a mountebank.
  • To cheat by boasting and false pretenses.

Origin / Etymology

From archaic Italian montambanco (“quack who mounts a bench to hawk his wares”), contracted from monta-in-banco (“mount on bench”).

Synonyms

bristler, bunco artist, bunco-steerer, charlatan, chiseler, con artist, confidence artist, confidence trickster, conman, fake, flimflammer, grifter, lugger, magsman, mountebank, quack, saltimbanco, shark-gull, sharker, sharpster, slicker, smooth operator, spiv

Scrabble Score: 18

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

Words With Friends Score: 23

mountebank is a valid Words With Friends word