Noun for someone whose secret has been discovered?
Is there a one-word noun for someone who has been lying or keeping a secret, but who has been found out?
I can think of descriptors that aren’t nouns (exposed, found out, etc.) but I’m looking for a noun that means the actual person who has been exposed or found out, etc.
Fraud comes to mind.
To our dismay we discovered Jacob was a fraud.
I say fraud because it almost always is used in the context of someone who has been exposed.
Wouldn't they just be a liar? If they are not found out they are not a liar (to you).
Debunked might fit.
It is usually used as a verb or an adjective. It can be used as an adjectival noun also but that usage is not common. (For example: debunking the debunked.)
Debunker is the one who debunks.
In a very few sources, debunkee is used as a neologism or a nonce word for the one who gets debunked.
debunk
: to expose the sham or falseness of
: to show that something (such as a belief or theory) is not true : to show the falseness of (a story, idea, statement, etc.)
Disclosed comes to mind also but it is used as an adjective mainly.
made known (especially something secret or concealed); "the disclosed purpose of their wicked plan"
Note: Of course they can be called many things like crook, sham, phoney, double-dealer, counterfeiter, faker, scammer, fraudulent, trickster etc. depending on the context but the key point is being found out/discovered.
While the finding out of the lie isn't a requirement, the word charlatan is probably appropriate.
If that person was under oath when he/she lied and was debunked later on, the usual, legal term is perjurer.
perjury: the crime of telling a lie in a court of law after promising to tell the truth.
Alternately, consider impostor for someone who has been lying about or keeping his or her real name, identity, etc., a secret until he or she was debunked, and discoveree for someone who has been found out as lying, cheating, or keeping a secret.
impostor: a person who practices deception under an assumed character, identity, or name.
discoveree: (rare) one who is discovered.