pretend
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause or attempt to cause (what is not so) to seem so.
to pretend illness; to pretend that nothing is wrong.
- Synonyms:
- counterfeit, sham, fake, simulate
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to appear falsely, as to deceive; feign.
to pretend to go to sleep.
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to make believe.
The children pretended to be cowboys.
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to presume; venture.
I can't pretend to say what went wrong.
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to allege or profess, especially insincerely or falsely.
He pretended to have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
verb (used without object)
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to make believe.
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to lay claim to (usually followed byto ).
She pretended to the throne.
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to make pretensions (usually followed byto ).
He pretends to great knowledge.
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Obsolete. to aspire, as a suitor or candidate (followed byto ).
adjective
verb
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(when tr, usually takes a clause as object or an infinitive) to claim or allege (something untrue)
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(tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to make believe, as in a play
you pretend to be Ophelia
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to present a claim, esp a dubious one
to pretend to the throne
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obsolete to aspire as a candidate or suitor (for)
adjective
Related Words
Pretend, affect, assume, feign imply an attempt to create a false appearance. To pretend is to create an imaginary characteristic or to play a part: to pretend sorrow. To affect is to make a consciously artificial show of having qualities that one thinks would look well and impress others: to affect shyness. To assume is to take on or put on a specific outward appearance, often (but not always) with intent to deceive: to assume an air of indifference. To feign implies using ingenuity in pretense, and some degree of imitation of appearance or characteristics: to feign surprise.
Etymology
Origin of pretend
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English pretenden, from Latin praetendere “to stretch forth, put forward, pretend.” See pre-, tend 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was overwhelming, and I think I just wanted to pretend that it wasn’t and that I was comfortable with it.
From Salon
It’s almost cute that Ring, Flock and other tech companies pretend to be nothing but innocent bystanders in all this.
From Salon
“I’m not going to pretend I can tell you what was going on in their heads but I tried to make people feel like they were there when it happened,” Fischer said.
From Los Angeles Times
The really crazy thing is that anyone ever pretended you could.
Everybody was lying about pretending to own their whole company.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
