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I originally thought of the word "disingenuous," except that my dictionary gives the definition as "not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does." I'm looking for a word that's similar in meaning, but with an emphasis on pretending to know something (rather than pretending not to know something).
Example sentence: Citing statistics he made up, the _____ salesman claimed that his weight-loss pills were miracle workers.
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary defines the word charlatanic (alternative form charlatanical) as
: of or like a charlatan : marked by or given to pretension and quackery
In turn, the same source defines the noun charlatan as
: a person who falsely pretends to know or be something in order to deceive people
I'd be a little hesitant to use charlatanic or charlatanical, since they are very infrequently used; I'd worry that readers might think I had just coined the word. I'd rather work the noun into the sentence, for example,
Citing statistics he made up, the salesman, that charlatan, claimed that his weight-loss pills were miracle workers.
But the adjectives do exist in some dictionaries if an adjective is really what you need.
[...] the bullshitting salesman claimed [...] .
bullshit
[...]
4. (intr) to talk in an exaggerated or foolish manner.
5. (tr) to talk bullshit to (a person).Usage: Bullshit was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in older editions of Collins English Dictionary. However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use.
— Collins English Dictionary:
Note: For a less objectionable variation (if you can rework sentence to use a noun), consider bull - actually an older form, rather than a contraction.
I like the word deceitful in this case:
guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others. MW
In the above definition, they give this example:
charged the store owner with such deceitful practices as inflating the list prices for items only so he could put them on sale at drastically reduced prices
In your case:
Citing statistics he made up, the deceitful salesman claimed that his weight-loss pills were miracle workers.
He is knowingly passing false information.
Perhaps dissembling. Oxford Online defines dissemble as
Conceal one’s true motives, feelings, or beliefs: an honest, sincere person with no need to dissemble
Or you could just say lying or fraudulent.
If you want something a bit more metaphoric, you could use snake oil
A product, policy, etc. of little real worth or value that is promoted as the solution to a problem: the new tax plan was denounced as snake oil
Oxford Dictionaries Online
In your example, it has an especially nice ring
Citing statistics he made up, the snake oil salesman claimed that his weight-loss pills were miracle workers.
A general word for "pretending to know more than one actually does" is "pretentious," which is defined in the New Oxford American Dictionary as:
Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.
This doesn't connote deliberate, blatant falsehoods; rather it suggests plausible-sounding invention in place of knowledge. It doesn't quite fit your example sentence.
You could also just use "dishonest."
You could also consider bluffer or bluffing.
"bluff".
try to deceive someone as to one's abilities or intentions.
In the context of the question it would be the abilities part of the definition that is of relevance (as in the "bluffer's guide" series of books where the title refers to feigning unwarranted expertise).
I'd suggest, wily
wily (and guileful) stress an attempt to ensnare or entrap; they usually imply treacherous astuteness or sagacity and a lack of scruples regarding the means to one's end.
wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.
I think you may use untrustworthy:
- not worthy of being trusted: untrustworthy witnesses.
I would go with shyster.
: a dishonest person especially : a dishonest lawyer or politician — often used before another noun
In the sense of a persuasive person, consider:
The silver-tongued salesman claimed that his weight-loss pills were miracle workers.
Definition: able to speak in a way that makes other people do or believe what you want them to do or believe (informal usually pejorative).
Self-aggrandizing is a candidate I've not seen mentioned yet that would be a decent fit.
One of the definitions of aggrandize from Mirram-Webster is:
to make appear great or greater
...
Nowadays, both noun and verb are regularly paired (somewhat disparagingly) with the prefix self- to refer to individuals bent on glorifying themselves
There's no adequate single adjective in English that specifically describes willfully and knowingly pretending to know more than one actually does.
Combining two words might work: pseudo-expert, pretend-scholar, techno-pretender, puff-peddler, cuff-notes, fake-brained, glib-grader, cerebral impersonator...
Not really an answer in the case that the person actually knows he is misleading someone. But that can be horribly difficult to tell sometimes.
If it is the case that the person honestly thinks he is knowledgeable and trying to help by showing his knowledge, you could say he has climbed mount stupid. It is a phase in learning when confidence has grown much faster than actual skill so a person actually can think they know lots but it really isn't warranted.
Try crafty
marked by subtlety and guile.
Subtlety means the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze and guile means the use of clever and usually dishonest methods to achieve something.
For your example sentence, you could use 'confident' as in 'confidence man'. Wouldn't work in a general sense though.
of, relating to, or adept at swindling by false promises, e.g.: a confidence game; a confidence man
