Pretend
WordNet
adjective
(1) Imagined as in a play
"The make-believe world of theater"
"Play money"
"Dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish"
noun
(2) The enactment of a pretense
"It was just pretend"
verb
(3) State insincerely
"He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"
"She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"
"She pretends to be an expert on wine"
(4) Make believe with the intent to deceive
"He feigned that he was ill"
"He shammed a headache"
(5) Represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like
"She makes like an actress"
(6) Put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation
"I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"
"I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong"
(7) Behave unnaturally or affectedly
"She's just acting"
(8) Put forward a claim and assert right or possession of
"Pretend the title of King"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From < , present active infinitive of < + ; see tend.
Verb
- to claim that or act as if something is different from what it actually is, often incorrectly and knowingly
- Don't pretend you didn't know about this!
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Related terms
- pretender
- pretense
- pretension
- pretentious
- pretentiousness