mountebanks

Noun

mountebank (plural mountebanks)

1. One who sells dubious medicines.
   • She is abus'd, ſtolne from me, and corrupted / By Spels, and Medicines, bought of Mountebanksc. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
2. One who sells by deception; a con artist.
   • Donne was a mountebank who wrapped up his lack of meaning in hard words.1928, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Orlando: A Biography, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 83

   Synonyms:

   charlatan, conman, fake, quack, bristler, bunco artist, bunco-steerer, chiseler, con artist, confidence artist

3. Any boastful, false pretender.
   • They ſay this towne is full of coſenage: / As nimble Iuglers that deceiue the eie: / Darke working Sorcerers that change the minde: / Soule-killing Witches that deforme the bodie: / Diſguiſed Cheaters, prating Mountebankes, / And manie ſuch like liberties of ſinne:c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
4. (obsolete) An acrobat.

See all 6 meanings of mountebank