mountebank

moun·te·bank  (mount-bngk)

n.

1. A hawker of quack medicines who attracts customers with stories, jokes, or tricks.

2. A flamboyant charlatan.

v. moun·te·banked, moun·te·bank·ing, moun·te·banks

v.intr.

To act as a mountebank.

v.tr. Archaic

To ensnare or prevail over with trickery.

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[Italian montambanco, from the phrase monta im banco, one gets up onto the bench : monta, one gets up, third person sing. present tense of montare, to get up (from Vulgar Latin *montre; see mount¹) + in, on, onto (from Latin; see in-²) + banco, bench (variant of banca, from Old Italian, bench, table, from Old High German bank).]

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mountebank

Noun

1. (formerly) a person who sold quack medicines in public places

2. a charlatan or fake [Italian montambanco a climber on a bench]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

mountebank - a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes charlatan beguiler, cheater, deceiver, trickster, slicker, cheat - someone who leads you to believe something that is not true craniologist, phrenologist - someone who claims to be able to read your character from the shape of your skull quack - an untrained person who pretends to be a physician and who dispenses medical advice