masquerade
/ˌmɑːskəˈreɪd
/ /ˌmaskəˈreɪd/noun
1A false show or pretence: I doubt he could have kept up the masquerade for long...
- Later in the novel, Clara performs a masquerade in reverse, pretending to be a governess while she is still working as a servant.
- Subsequently, the duke joins in on the masquerade, play-acting the threat of sexual violence - a rehearsal for his actions later in the film.
- If only this was just a Shakespearean farce and we could snigger at the gross stupidity of the characters portrayed and their ridiculous masquerades, but shamefully it is real and we are obliged to see it through to the end.
Synonyms
pretence, deception, pose, act, front, facade, disguise, dissimulation, cover-up, bluff, subterfuge, play-acting, make-believe
informal put-on
1.1 [mass noun] The wearing of disguise: dressing up, role playing, and masquerade...
- He upheld a New York State statute prohibiting the wearing of masks or facial disguises in public, other than for masquerade or similar entertainment purposes.
- The film explores this realm through a complex narrative use of masks and masquerade.
- This distance functions like a mask or masquerade, revealing more than it hides.
1.2chiefly North American A masked ball.The masquerade starts after dinner from 9: 10 pm and will last into the early hours....
- It is a site devoted to this musical masquerade.
- The cost is 1,000 yuan for dinner and masquerade, 500 yuan for masquerade only.
Synonyms
masked ball, masque, fancy-dress party
verb [no object]
1Pretend to be someone one is not: a journalist masquerading as a man in distress...
- And now many suspicious minds have concluded there is more than one person masquerading as the King.
- I was certainly startled by the two people I saw masquerading as my parents.
- There are many people that go around masquerading as boxing fans.
Synonyms
pretend to be, pose as, pass oneself off as, impersonate, disguise oneself as, simulate, profess to be
rare personate
1.1Be disguised or passed off as something else: idle gossip that masquerades as news...
- And because it masquerades as news, we naturally let our guard down, invoking a built in trust of that which is media establishment.
- We need to speak out against intolerance that masquerades as tolerance.
- A modern reproduction that masquerades as brass it may be, but still it is beautiful.
Derivatives
masquerader
/ /ˌmaskəˈreɪdə / noun ...- My presence also made other differences, as the masqueraders occasionally stopped in their performance to pose for my camera.
- The original date of the launch would have been a pre-season first, forcing masqueraders to choose between the launch of two large bands.
- Early accounts report that masqueraders participated in generating this reputation by joining battles and terrorizing encroaching communities by night.
Origin
Late 16th century: from French mascarade, from Italian mascherata, from maschera 'mask'.
mascara from late 19th century:
Acting and clowning are indirectly linked in mascara, from Italian maschera, which goes back to an Arabic word meaning ‘buffoon’. Most of the earliest English uses refer to theatrical make-up, though the first known, from 1886, suggests a more discreet use by gentlemen: ‘For darkening the eyebrows and moustaches without greasing them and making them prominent’. Through Italian maschera mascara is also linked to mask (mid 16th century) and masquerade (late 16th century).