The Latin word impostura came into our language as imposture . This is what the simulation or artifice that is carried out with the appearance of being true is called.
For example: “The mayor's imposture outraged the neighbors: under the pretext of taking care of the square, he prohibited demonstrations and protests in the most important green space in the city,” “When the Workers' Party deputy acquired a mansion in the most luxurious neighborhood, we realized his imposture,” “Religious imposture is the shield of many sexual offenders.”
Generally, imposture is a pose that is adopted in public to obtain some type of benefit . Suppose that a politician's image advisor recommends that he show himself as someone committed to defending the environment . This suggestion comes after a survey revealed that ecology is among the main concerns of voters. In this way, the politician begins to speak out in favor of environmentalism and claims to have the intention of combating pollution, when in reality the issue does not interest him: he is a shareholder in a polluting company and even tends to throw waste on public roads. However, with his imposture he tries to generate empathy with people.
A romantic singer, for his part, may present himself as a heterosexual heartthrob when, in reality, he is gay. The imposture is due to the fact that he believes that, if he recognizes his sexual orientation, he could lose fans and sell fewer tickets to his concerts .
Given that the word imposture is not very common in everyday speech, it can be very useful to look it up in a thesaurus, to learn about other terms whose meanings are similar and give us a broader view of yours. Let's look at some of the most common ones below: deception , farce, fraud, falsehood, simulation, comedy, falsification, theater, trickery, slander, imputation, defamation and gossip .
As with many other words in our language, it is not easy to find an antonym for imposture . To understand why this happens, let's first review the two meanings offered by the Royal Spanish Academy dictionary: "malicious and false imputation"; "deception or pretense that is presented as truth." How could we express the opposite of a twisted and deceptive action? Well, simply as something "pure" or "direct", like a speech or a way of being without ulterior motives or fine print. In short, the opposite of imposture is what should normally happen, what is expected of a person, and that is why it is not easy to define it.
If we go to an extreme and take the term murderer as an example, we will also find the absence of antonyms, since it is not necessary to define the action of "not killing" or the tendency to "respect the value of other people's lives." but these characteristics are what we consider basic in a good human being.
When we go out on the street, when we present ourselves in front of other people, it is generally almost impossible not to "dress" in an imposture appropriate to the norms of the social group in which we insert ourselves. This does not mean that we are false, but it does mean that we tend to limit and alter our personality when we are outside our inner circle, sometimes with the desire to respect the freedom of others, and other times out of shame to show ourselves as we really are.
Malicious imposture is different, since it is adopted with the intention of obtaining a benefit , as well expressed in the example of the political leader who begins to speak in favor of the environment even though he is not interested in the topic at all.