[
US
/pɹiˈtɛnd/
]
[ UK /pɹɪtˈɛnd/ ]
[ UK /pɹɪtˈɛnd/ ]
VERB
-
make believe with the intent to deceive
He feigned that he was ill
He shammed a headache -
put forward a claim and assert right or possession of
pretend the title of King -
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 -
represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like
She makes like an actress -
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 -
behave unnaturally or affectedly
She's just acting
NOUN
-
the enactment of a pretense
it was just pretend
ADJECTIVE
-
imagined as in a play
the make-believe world of theater
play money
dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish
How To Use pretend In A Sentence
- Stealing away, (whence, I suppose, the ironical phrase of trusty Trojan to this day,) like a thief — pretendedly indeed at the command of the gods; but could that be, when the errand he went upon was to rob other princes, not only of their dominions, but of their lives? — Clarissa Harlowe
- Advertisers pretending to be private individuals will be liable to prosecution.
- His first impulse was to turn around and walk away, blank her out, pretend he hadn't even seen.
- So I stare down at the pool table and pretend to study my opponent's next move.
- But it means you get this style of performance across the board that is people inhabiting characters rather than pretending to be people. Times, Sunday Times
- She blew out through her lips and pretended to fan herself.
- Finally, a small number of participants discussed their experiences with gender-bending - that is, pretending to be of the opposite sex - during an online sexual encounter.
- We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. Kurt Vonnegut
- She emotionally recalls what it was like as a teenager running into her homeless dad on the streets and pretending she didn't know him.
- The Moroccan government claims to be acting constructively, but pretends that Western Sahara is not partitioned, and that the Polisario-controlled areas are a buffer zone in which the Polisario has no presence. Global Voices in English » Western Sahara: Landmine Injures Five During Peaceful Protest