Poseur

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Poseur (or poser) is a negative term used by some subcultures. It describes a person who copies the style or mannerisms of a subculture, but who is not considered to belong to it. It implies that the person is fake, and is considered not to share or understand the values or philosophy of that culture.

A person may copy the style of a particular subculture to be accepted within that group or for popularity among various other groups.

The term is often used in the punk, heavy metal, hip hop, and goth subcultures, or the skateboarding and surfing communities. For example, in the hardcore punk scene, older punks may view a young punk with an "anarchy" symbol on their shirt as a poseur if the older punks think the young punk does not understand what the symbol means.