pretended

[ pri-ten-did ]

adjective

1. insincerely or falsely professed:

   a pretended interest in art.

2. feigned, fictitious, or counterfeit:

   His pretended wealth was proved to be nonexistent.

3. alleged or asserted; reputed.

Other Words From

• pre·tended·ly adverb
• self-pre·tended adjective
• unpre·tended adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pretended¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; pretend, -ed ²

Example Sentences

“It’s not a problem not marrying after having a child. It’s that he pretended to be such an ethical person so far,” wrote another.

From BBC

They first pretended to be from her bank.

From BBC

“A friend of mine was at our house and made an insensitive joke about epilepsy, and pretended to have a seizure,” Leo explained.

From Los Angeles Times

Burbank police detectives say it wasn’t the first time that Amanda Leeann Porter, 44, of Virginia, pretended to be a nurse.

From Los Angeles Times

Jeanne de la Motte, a noblewoman fallen on hard times, pretended to be French Queen and tricked a cardinal into giving her the necklace, without paying.

From BBC