let's pretendn.
/ˌlɛts prᵻˈtɛnd/, U.S. /ˌlɛts priˈtɛnd/, /ˌlɛts prəˈtɛnd/ A game of pretence or make-believe. Also attributive, transferred, and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > game of make-believe
let's pretend1904
1904 Daily Chron. 12 July 8/5 She entered into the spirit of the thing as heartily as if we were at games of ‘Let's pretend’.
1907 Daily Chron. 16 May 5/5 It is just a song, a jig, and ‘let's pretend’.
1948 United Nations World Dec. 92/1 The New Look..was a ‘Let's Pretend’ fashion.
1963 Ingenue Dec. 45 A Short..wrap of let's-pretend beaver (called Norba).
1964 W. Golding Spire iv. 85 But there comes a point when vision's no more than a child's playing let's pretend.
1967 Listener 21 Sept. 371/1 The dividing line between reality and ‘let's pretend’.
1969 N. Freeling Tsing-Boum xii. 85 Then—everything was queer then. Double-think and let's-pretend.
1970 Guardian 23 Dec. 9/6 I told all the children..that Santa Claus wasn't real but a let's pretend person.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1904