pretend
1 of 2verb
pre·tend pri-ˈtend 
pretended; pretending; pretends
transitive verb
1
: to give a false appearance of being, possessing, or performing
does not pretend to be a psychiatrist
2
a
: to make believe : feign
he pretended deafness
b
: to claim, represent, or assert falsely
pretending an emotion he could not really feel
3
archaic : venture, undertake
intransitive verb
1
: to feign an action, part, or role especially in play
2
: to put in a claim
cannot pretend to any particular expertise
Clive Barnes
Clive Barnespretend
2 of 2adjective
1
: imaginary, make-believe
had a pretend pal with whom he talked
2
: not genuine : mock
pretend pearls
3
: being a nonfunctional imitation
a pretend train for the children to play in
Synonyms
Verb
- dissemble
- dissimulate
- let on
- make out
Adjective
- artificial
- bogus
- dummy
- ersatz
- factitious
- fake
- false
- faux
- imitation
- imitative
- man-made
- mimic
- mock
- sham
- simulated
- substitute
- synthetic
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb He had a big stain on his shirt, but I pretended not to notice. The children pretended to be asleep. She looked like she was enjoying the party but she was just pretending. It was a mistake, and to pretend otherwise would be foolish. The children were pretending to be animals. He pretended to make a phone call. Let's just pretend for a moment. I'm your boss. What would you say to me? Adjective The children played on a pretend train. if you were to see the movie's pretend jewels in real life, you wouldn't be fooled for a minute See More
Recent Examples on the Web Matt Ford, The New Republic, 13 Sep. 2022 The house manager didn’t pretend not to be exasperated with them. Emma Cline, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2022 The spot, along the banks of the Tylihul Estuary, has become a popular respite, where the war weary swim and sunbathe and pretend that life is normal, if only for a short while. New York Times, 22 Aug. 2022 What’s interesting is that bands like Judas Priest pretend that their replacement singer never existed. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2022 Teens who are over 13 but pretend to be even older get one chance to correct their age. Barbara Ortutay, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Aug. 2022 This season has brilliant storylines, including addressing the ongoing epidemic of Pretendians (people who pretend to be Indigenous for clout), cultural appropriation around Halloween time, and spotlighting Indigenous design and beadwork. Emma Specter, Vogue, 25 July 2022 So the plot of this new film, in which two young professionals pretend to be a couple during summer wedding season to get their parents off their back, resonates. Lisa Respers France, CNN, 6 Aug. 2022 These companies that pretend to be aggressors often rely on aircraft that aren’t as sophisticated as fifth-generation fighter jets used by Chinese and Russian militaries. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2022 John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 1 Sep. 2022 Wooden cars and a train with working wheels are also provided to be able to get around their pretend city. Ysolt Usigan, Woman's Day, 18 Aug. 2022 At first that meant playing make-believe together, in which Maggie was a pretend horse that young Marissa would train to go in circles. April Wallace, Arkansas Online, 24 July 2022 From a pretend cruise at sea to music video-style pool parties, this isn't your average seniors' home. Zulekha Nathoo, USA TODAY, 15 July 2022 The jig was up at the pretend quarterfinal stage when the police cracked down and arrested four persons involved with it. Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 11 July 2022 Lyles leaned back in his chair in the Orioles clubhouse, playing pretend general manager for a moment. Andy Kostka, Baltimore Sun, 23 June 2022 His mom even saved the picture from our pretend wedding. cleveland, 14 May 2022 Here, roomy standing baskets (painted a stylish copper) function as a display for the pretend food used in the adorable play kitchen by Hello Baby Brown. Sienna Livermore, House Beautiful, 31 May 2022 See More
Verb
As with his January 6 memos, his latest brief did not pretend to draw upon existing statutes or case law to make his argument. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 13 Sep. 2022 The house manager didn’t pretend not to be exasperated with them. Emma Cline, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2022 The spot, along the banks of the Tylihul Estuary, has become a popular respite, where the war weary swim and sunbathe and pretend that life is normal, if only for a short while. New York Times, 22 Aug. 2022 What’s interesting is that bands like Judas Priest pretend that their replacement singer never existed. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2022 Teens who are over 13 but pretend to be even older get one chance to correct their age. Barbara Ortutay, The Christian Science Monitor, 11 Aug. 2022 This season has brilliant storylines, including addressing the ongoing epidemic of Pretendians (people who pretend to be Indigenous for clout), cultural appropriation around Halloween time, and spotlighting Indigenous design and beadwork. Emma Specter, Vogue, 25 July 2022 So the plot of this new film, in which two young professionals pretend to be a couple during summer wedding season to get their parents off their back, resonates. Lisa Respers France, CNN, 6 Aug. 2022 These companies that pretend to be aggressors often rely on aircraft that aren’t as sophisticated as fifth-generation fighter jets used by Chinese and Russian militaries. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2022 Adjective
Those documents were passed to clients, and to real and pretend media in Florida and Alabama. John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 1 Sep. 2022 Wooden cars and a train with working wheels are also provided to be able to get around their pretend city. Ysolt Usigan, Woman's Day, 18 Aug. 2022 At first that meant playing make-believe together, in which Maggie was a pretend horse that young Marissa would train to go in circles. April Wallace, Arkansas Online, 24 July 2022 From a pretend cruise at sea to music video-style pool parties, this isn't your average seniors' home. Zulekha Nathoo, USA TODAY, 15 July 2022 The jig was up at the pretend quarterfinal stage when the police cracked down and arrested four persons involved with it. Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 11 July 2022 Lyles leaned back in his chair in the Orioles clubhouse, playing pretend general manager for a moment. Andy Kostka, Baltimore Sun, 23 June 2022 His mom even saved the picture from our pretend wedding. cleveland, 14 May 2022 Here, roomy standing baskets (painted a stylish copper) function as a display for the pretend food used in the adorable play kitchen by Hello Baby Brown. Sienna Livermore, House Beautiful, 31 May 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English, from Anglo-French pretendre, from Latin praetendere to allege as an excuse, literally, to stretch out, from prae- pre- + tendere to stretch — more at thin
First Known Use
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Adjective
1708, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing pretend
Kids Definition
pretend
verb
pre·tend pri-ˈtend
pretended; pretending
1
: to make believe
Let's pretend we're riding on a bus.
2
: to put forward as true something that is not true
She will pretend friendship.
pretend 1 of 2
verb
1
as in to pose
to take on a false or deceptive appearance I pretended that I didn't care that my ex had a new man in her life Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- pose
- dissimulate
- assume
- play
- dissemble
- act
- make believe
- fake
- simulate
- let on
- masquerade
- conceal
- feign
- make a pretense
- profess
- impersonate
- make a show
- make out
- disguise
- playact
- put on an act
- put up a front
- sham
- camouflage
- mask
- affect
- counterfeit
- bluff
- put on
- feint
2
as in to assume
to present a false appearance of as if I would ever pretend illness just to take off a day from work Synonyms & Similar Words
- assume
- simulate
- feign
- act
- profess
- dissemble
- affect
- fake
- make believe
- sham
- bluff
- conceal
- imitate
- counterfeit
- dissimulate
- play
- pose
- masquerade
- impersonate
- forge
- put on
- playact
- pass (for)
- disguise
- let on
- camouflage
- mask
- malinger
- feint
pretend
2 of 2adjective
1
as in fake
being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials if you were to see the movie's pretend jewels in real life, you wouldn't be fooled for a minute Synonyms & Similar Words
- fake
- faux
- simulated
- dummy
- synthetic
- mock
- artificial
- imitation
- mimic
- substitute
- false
- imitative
- manufactured
- sham
- bogus
- factitious
- ersatz
- counterfeit
- designer
- manipulated
- process
- fabricated
- concocted
- deceptive
- engineered
- man-made
- pseudo
- doctored
- forged
- feigned
- cultured
- phony
- misleading
- fudged
- juggled
- fraudulent
- adulterated
- phoney
- pinchbeck
- affected
- unauthentic
- spurious
- brummagem
- tampered (with)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- real
- genuine
- true
- natural
- legitimate
- authentic
- bona fide
- valuable
- pure
- quality
- premium
- unadulterated
2
as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination it's just a pretend gun, so please pretend that I got you and play dead Synonyms & Similar Words
- imaginary
- fictitious
- fictional
- imagined
- fantasied
- mythical
- invented
- mythic
- ideal
- make-believe
- phantom
- unreal
- unlikely
- fantastical
- fanciful
- chimerical
- made-up
- imaginal
- notional
- theoretical
- fantastic
- legendary
- phantasmal
- fabulous
- hypothetical
- romantic
- visionary
- phantasmic
- chimeric
- fabled
- theoretic
- abstract
- conceived
- unconvincing
- envisioned
- pictured
- deceptive
- envisaged
- concocted
- illusory
- unbelievable
- visualized
- feigned
- fabricated
- nonexistent
- delusional
- fictive
- delusive
- hallucinatory
- daydreamlike
- phantasmagoric
- phantasmagorical
- inexistent
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- real
- actual
- true
- genuine
- existing
- authentic
- existent
- convincing
- realistic
- factual
- verifiable
- believable
- physical
- substantial
- solid
- verified
- tangible
- corporeal
- material
- palpable
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of pretend are affect, assume, counterfeit, feign, sham, and simulate. While all these words mean "to put on a false or deceptive appearance," pretend implies an overt and sustained false appearance.
pretended that nothing had happened
In some situations, the words affect and pretend are roughly equivalent. However, affect implies making a false show of possessing, using, or feeling.
affected an interest in art
Although the words assume and pretend have much in common, assume often implies a justifiable motive rather than an intent to deceive.
assumed an air of cheerfulness around the patients
The meanings of counterfeit and pretend largely overlap; however, counterfeit implies achieving the highest degree of verisimilitude of any of these words.
an actor counterfeiting drunkenness
Feign implies more artful invention than pretend, less specific mimicry than simulate.
feigned sickness
The words sham and pretend can be used in similar contexts, but sham implies an obvious falseness that fools only the gullible.
shammed a most unconvincing limp
While in some cases nearly identical to pretend, simulate suggests a close imitation of the appearance of something.
cosmetics that simulate a suntan