make-believe
pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; playacting; fantasy: the make-believe of children playing.
a pretender; a person who pretends.
Origin of make-believe
1Words Nearby make-believe
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use make-believe in a sentence
Donetsk, formerly a make-believe republic, is turning into a little neo-Soviet state.
Her current obsession is Harry Potter, so the guest of honor at her birthday party will be a make believe Hermione Granger.
We were at the CIA recently, and I broached this question because it was front and center in our make-believe intelligence agency.
‘Homeland’ Showrunner: ‘We Knew We Had to Plot a New Course’ | Andrew Romano | September 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWas this a conspiracy as charged in the indictment, or just some make-believe as the defense contends?
Cannibal Cop’s Dark Fetishes Detailed in Grisly Trial Testimony | Michael Daly | February 27, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAs head of a state—even such a make-believe state as the Vatican—Joseph Ratzinger has absolute immunity from legal action.
Pope Benedict XVI’s Tenure Marred by Human-Rights Failures | Geoffrey Robertson | February 11, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Never mind the dust; I've turned it on to make believe we're going tremendously fast.
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. CarrylHe left about a hundred of us here to make believe we 'uns ware goin' to attack Paris, so to give him time to git away.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnThey would pick them up and hold them in their hands and would then make believe they were Cave-men trapping reindeer in the snow.
The Later Cave-Men | Katharine Elizabeth DoppThen the larger reindeer that had lost their antlers started off to make-believe higher lands.
The Later Cave-Men | Katharine Elizabeth DoppAlready poor Richard was very humble, his make-believe spirit all snuffed out.
Mistress Wilding | Rafael Sabatini
British Dictionary definitions for make believe
to pretend or enact a fantasy: the children made believe they were doctors
a fantasy, pretence, or unreality
(as modifier): a make-believe world
a person who pretends
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with make-believe
Pretend, as in Let's make believe we're elves. This expression in effect means making oneself believe in an illusion. [Early 1700s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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