Wannabe

InterventizioWhen I say "he's a rich wannabe" does it mean "he would want to be rich" or it means he's (already) rich + a wannabe?

To me, he's rich already and wants to be something else.

InterventizioWhat do you call somebody wanting to be something, if you have to use "wannabe"?

You need to use a noun: He's a wannabe m

Thank you. This is what I needed to know. So I get it, "wannabe" doesn't need qualification: one can simply be an undefined "wannabe".

I looked up the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and saw this:
wannabe
Meaning: a person who behaves, dresses, ect. like sb famous because they want to be like them.
Example: a rock star wannabe.
Is there something wrong...? ;_____;

Actually, I still have some doubts. After browsing some Google results, I'm under the impression that when you use the -ing form before "wannabee", that describes what you would want to be. Here a somewhat stupid example: "hot-dog eating wannabee" is someone that would want to eat a hot-dog, but for some reason can't at that moment. Is this true? Or it may mean somebody who eats hot-dogs + wants t

Wannabe is much more often used to describe someone that's pretending to be something he's not. In the original example, a wannabe millionaire would be someone that dresses and acts like a millionaire.

It is usually used as a synonym for poseur.

Oh, ok I got it. So it's not simply one who WOULD like to be something he's not; he's one acting as if they WERE something they're not.

InterventizioSo it's not simply one who WOULD like to be something he's not; he's one acting as if they WERE something they're not.

Only because he cannot be called a wannabe unless he evinces some evidence of such; the acting is not intrinsic to the definition, however.