The term coined from the French verb "poser" in the 1870s, to refer to people who "affect an attitude or pose"; earlier versions of the verb in Old French meant "to put or place". Etymonline, an online etymology dictionary, argues that since the "word is Eng.[English] poser in Fr.[French] garb", thus it "could itself be considered an affectation."[2]

Dictionary.com says the word refers to "a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not."[1] The Merriam-Webster dictionary notes that the term was also used to refer to a "person who pretends to be what he or she is not" or an "insincere person".[3] The Encarta dictionary states that the term is used to describe a "pretentious person" or "somebody who tries to impress others by behaving in an affected way".[4] The Cambridge Dictionary defines a "poseur" as "someone who pretends to be something they are not, or to have qualities that they do not have."[5]

Many individuals misspell the word as Poser, which by Merriam-Webster's definition is either "a puzzling or baffling question" or "a person who poses" as if for a portrait.