TechnologyAugust 8, 2026

impersonation

im-pur-suh-NAY-shun

Definition

The act of pretending to be another person in order to deceive others or gain unauthorized access to information.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'persona' (meaning mask or character), the word evolved to describe the act of adopting another person's appearance, identity, or role.

In the news

In the article, the word refers to attackers posing as internal IT help desk staff to manipulate employees into granting them system access. This technique is a core component of the social engineering methods used to compromise Levi's security.

Levi's Data Breach: Three Phone Calls, No Exploit

Read the full article ↗

Pasquale Pillitteri

Related words

Learn a word like this every day

Meet one new word every morning.

Newspoken pulls one carefully chosen word from the day’s news — with a clear definition, context, and light review that makes it stick. Get it on your phone.