pretender vs role player

pretender and role player both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
pretender	Yes	No	No	No
role player	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, pretender and role player are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of pretender include fake, faker, fraud, imposter, impostor, pseud, pseudo, sham, shammer.

pretender (noun)	role player (noun)
a person who makes deceitful pretenses	a theatrical performer
a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives	a person who makes deceitful pretenses