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

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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
I don't pretend that Obama is a saint nor that Hillary is the debil. New Hillary Ad: Obama Only Takes On Oil Companies "On TV"
Tiger Woods rescued from crash by wife Elin Nordegren carrying a golf club Trapped in his own body for 23 years - the coma victim who screamed unheard Pretending the climate email leak isn't a crisis won't make it go away | George Monbiot Michelle Obama 'racist' picture that is topping Google Images removed nhs tower hamlets. aneurin bevan house, aldgate east, inner east lond …. Latest financial, market & economic news and analysis | guardian.co.uk
I do not pretend to be omniscient, but am positive about this fact.
Of course I was wrong; it would be hypocritical to pretend otherwise.
Jagang didn't want her slipping out of their snare by hiding in crowds of people, or escaping by pretending to be a lowly washwoman. The Pillars of Creation
Howbeit when they should come to sit downe at dinner, there kindled a strife betwixt the said two bishops about their places, bicause the bishop of London, for that he had beene ordeined long before the archbishop, and therefore not onelie as deane to the see of Canturburie, but also by reason of prioritie, pretended to haue the vpper seat. Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (3 of 12) Henrie I.
I do not pretend to know what combination of threats and cajolements they offered, but they obviously succeeded.
Seigi saw Drew glance at him sharply, putting two and two together, but the bowman pretended he hadn't seen the look, and continued to watch Lillandra.
It seems easier for many people to pretend it is not happening. Times, Sunday Times
Start the jug swinging and try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug while pretending to be a plane.
But you make me laugh, puttin 'on airs an' pretendin 'to do it for spoort -- "Wimmen ha'n't got no sense o' spoort, "says you, all solemn as owls. Corporal Sam and Other Stories
He never uses allusions, elliptical expressions, never pretends to know what he doesn't.
We pretend to be strong because we are weak. Paulo Coelho
Now seeing in the last section, those we call mathematics are absolved of the crime of breeding controversy; and they that pretend not to learning cannot be accused; the fault lieth altogether in the dogmatics, that is to say, those that are imperfectly learned, and with passion press to have their opinions pass everywhere for truth, without any evident demonstration either from experience, or from places of Scripture of uncontroverted interpretation. The Elements of Law Natural and Politic
Stephen draws a parallel between someone who would spy while pretending to be a friend, and what Matthew did to Absalom.
Tea parties were Irene's favorite activity, and Elisa loved to pretend she was a high society debutante (which she would be in a matter of years but the girl was impatient).
No messing about, not even pretend messing.
Though she'd never been much of a nurse and it was hypocritical to pretend otherwise.
Let's pretend we're cats.
Sometimes the country has to take precedence over a do-nothing imposter and pretender to the throne.
You've got to have a hide as thick as a rhinoceros to carry on and pretend nothing has happened.
But to frame an abstract idea of happiness, prescinded from all particular pleasure, or of goodness from everything that is good, this is what few can pretend to. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, by George Berkeley
For what Steyn calls a cheerier take, though, there's this, from some make-pretend academic on the wingnut gravy train: Firedoglake
I'm left dumbfounded when a Protestant asks me how I can pretend infallibility is not contradicted in light of this.
Is there a parallel between taking up a storekeepers time by pretending to shop and ask prices for items we know we will not buy and dating the opposite sex with no intention of a committed relationship?
We can pretend otherwise, to make them like us, but it will always be a lie. Times, Sunday Times
It doesn't take a highly trained director to tell a few actresses to run in the woods and pretend to be scared.
Rule two, stop pretending you got engaged to my kid brother for anything but his money.
Anybody that pretends to do that in the United States will be very, very severely punished.
You've got to have a hide as thick as a rhinoceros to carry on and pretend nothing has happened.
One of the nice things about this world is that, when the screwers talk to the screwed, they've abandoned the current pretense of pretending it's for the screwed's own good.
When you've got a baby you can't just take a load of drugs and zonk out and pretend it doesn't exist!
I pretended to be deep in conversation in the middle of a very important telephone call.
Failed writers tend to overidentify with the organization, as it allows them to pretend to still be in the business. A Gut Check Moment for SFWA « Whatever
Backwards Pretend you are a beginner who has inadvertently forgotten which end of the board is forwards and set sail going backwards.
And if the neighbour dares to try and poke his nose in, pretending to wish me many happy returns when all he really wants is a good snoop around, he'll wish he hadn't.
On the part of those on whom they operate, they are indicative either of improbity or intellectual weakness, or of a contempt for the understanding of those on whose minds they are indicative of intellectual weakness; and on the part of those in and by whom they are pretended to operate, they are indicative of improbity, viz., in the shape of insincerity. Fallacies of Anti-Reformers
She pretended not to notice.
A hollywood SciFi flic can pretend to be as progessive as possible, anti-imperialist eco-warriors fighting against a capitalist military-industrial complex, but it seems it is impossible to subvert the gender dichotomy even a little bit. Will You Go See Avatar?
I kid myself, of course - but I like to pretend the thing brings good luck.
One other thing I took out of the film was that here was someone shown to some extent to be a fake, he was pretending to be an Indian, and I took a broader lesson.
They escaped after the woman pretended she would run away with him. The Sun
He pretended not to know her but in fact they were in league together.
You're pretending to be asleep.
Guaharibos, Spanish soldiers pretend to have found the fine kind of saussurite (Amazon-stone), of which we have spoken. Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America
Her mother, Jackiey, the daughter of a market trader, was described in her daughter's autobiography as a petty thief and "clipper" - a woman who pretends to be a prostitute but runs off with the money instead. DUFF & NONSENSE!
I just wanted to be absolutely clear on this because I've gotten a number of emails castigating me for pretending that.
But it would be naive to pretend that seismic political change can be avoided. Times, Sunday Times
He isn't thinking of returning full-time to a career in interviewing and he wasn't keen to offer advice to the latest pretender to his throne.
Third, the world sees no near-term pretender to the throne because neither the divergent economies within the Euro zone nor the undemocratic Chinese regime command sufficient confidence in their respective currencies. NYT > Opinion
They escaped after the woman pretended she would run away with him. The Sun
But in social security the biggest scam is people pretending to have a disability that they do not have, rather than assuming another name.
Science always reflects the values of scientists - the difference here is that we state our values up front and do not pretend scientific methods make findings value-free.
She has establshied good will with many people across the aisle. did you miss that Steve Clemons found that your belove pretender was negligent with the only job he could have learned something about foreign policy? Bill Clinton: Hillary Will Call Upon Bush 41
Why pretend to write a tell-all book about your life while you're still very much in the game?
There was another bit of the plan I never quiet understood which involved singing Marie Lloyd songs instead of calling the election while it was still winnable, but I don't pretend to have a firm grasp of psephology.
Show some spunk . Quit pretending you're being abused.
Her bleached blonde hair and heavy blue eye-shadow looked false in the bright kitchen; her tight top and high hds made her look like a pretend person. Two women
And I'd no hope of pretending to be from a semicivilized community which they had trade relations with .. There Will Be Time
Sometimes they only let couples in - I actually had to pretend to be gay and throw a queeny fit to glean admittance.
Possum or pretend to sleep.
To sweep it under the carpet and pretend it never happened would only dishonour those, the majority, who are a credit to the country they serve.
Today, Total Defense Research Team was informed of new ransomware circulating among Italian users, pretending to be an official statement by the Italian Police.
I will read to him, do crafts, play cars, pretend the couch is a ship and we are pirates – but I will not play trains. Mom At Work | Her Bad Mother
Some people pretend to despise the things they cannot have.
Next to go should be those "We are Jesus" hymns in which the congregation for the first time in two millennia of Christian hymnology pretends that it's Christ. George Weigel: Heretical Hymns?
I can't pretend that they will suit everyone (particularly the loonier ones). Times, Sunday Times
You were supposed to pretend to be in a seizure and we go in there, right?
The final battle, although it seems rather misleading to describe it as such, involves wobbly Satan throwing rubber starfishes at Thor, which he then has to pretend are attacking him. Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat
We cannot continue to turn a blind eye or ear and pretend that all is well when many people are hurting and yearning for help.
People covered the streets, merrily strolling along, pretending nothing had happened at the local pub just minutes earlier.
He tricked his way into her home by pretending to be a policeman.
• The rally has also been rightly criticized for pretending to be non-political while talking in apocalyptical terms about the country going in the wrong direction under the current administration. David Coates: The Hijacking of the Almighty
Perhaps it's his glaring vanity - it is surely disingenuous for a man in his sixties to sport such a pompadour and pretend that he doesn't want it noticed.
Jeff asked Rev. Brett if he'd been "sandbagging" challenges, pretending to be a nothing, and then suddenly turning it on in this final push. Tallulah Morehead: Survivor: Samoa Finale: A Confederacy of Douches.
One of the most expensive departments in a car plant is the paint shop, so DeLorean saved the money and pretended that the brushed stainless steel finish was a style feature.
I'm not pretending that the switch is going to be all magic, that the first day in the studio not as a dancer is going to be easy.
Sorry, but pretending that any American auto manufacturer is healthy is delusional, stupid and ridiculous. Think Progress » Arizona legislature demands immigrants and President of the United States verify their status.
The 6ft 4in tall former basketball player is assisted by a man pretending to deliver art supplies. Times, Sunday Times
For the unconscionable fellow, owing to this coheirship which he pretends to disesteem, has been made privy to experiences which must not only have been extraordinary to so plain and humdrum a person, but which have been, as I happen to know, of great importance to him, and which -- to put the thing at its highest -- have lifted him, dull dog as he is, into regions where the very dogs have wings. Lore of Proserpine
The real contest, champions v pretenders, begins. Times, Sunday Times
The GE soy and corn on the market, which the FDA continues to pretend is just the same as the natural stuff, also has higher levels of allergens, and has been linked to numerous disorders. Jeffrey Smith: GE Salmon? Are You Out of Your Minds?!
This place bears evidence of having been ruled over by some chief pretending to Hindooism. Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries
The temptation is enormous to escape into fantasy, or close our eyes and pretend nothing has changed.
Poor endo, down to trying to pretend he is the "ubermensch"! Propeller Most Popular Stories
In the above situation it is quite appropriate to look the other way whilst earwigging and they will pretend you can't hear their conversation.
Boys and young men with pretend guns were being given military drill and taught blood-curdling, screamed chants.
She pretended to trip on a cobblestone and feigned a sprain.
Keep pretending that a scold is the same as a reasoned argument, however, I can guarantee that you will help usher in the very era of protectionism that you seem so fearful of. Lean Left » Blog Archive » The Weird “Advice” of Jacob Weisberg
Pretending to be a convert is a very old and dishonest trick, I for one am not falling for it. Think Progress » VIDEO: Sen. Levin and Fox Anchor in On-Air Scuffle Over Iraq Plan
pretend the title of King
I was pretty affable myself, just then, and pretended not to hear one or two of the more jealous remarks that were dropped - about how odd it was that Her Majesty hadn't chosen one of the purple brigade to squire her young cousin, not so much as Guardee even, but a plain Mr - and who the deuce were the Flashmans anyway? The Sky Writer
Let's pretend it never happened.
Yes indeed I enjoyed horses vicariously and occasionally even pretended to be Jill and set up a few jumps in the garden and did a bit of giddy-up neddy trotting around my own gymkhana. Such stuff as dreams are made on...
In medicine and the social sciences, from a manpower and resources standpoint - it makes sense to target groups where the pathologies are a greater problem - rather than pretend the pathology is uniformly distributed. "Harsh, noteless, enormous noise, a growling, low-pitched, screaming sound … drain[s] out like a sob lasting fully a minute."
While pretending to create a kind of police force, he militarized his formations and transformed them into a professional military body.
Even so, Hague has offered to host a conference on the matter and at Munich gave among examples of internet attacks on "British interests" his own staff and a defence contractor being hit by "Zeus" malware that evaded defences by pretending to come from the White House. William Hague reveals hacker attack on Foreign Office in call for cyber rules
The pride of aiming at more knowledge, and pretending to more perfection, is the cause of Man's error and misery. Alexander Pope
There was really no point in pretending that she didn't desire him with equal intensity.
Stay calm and pretend you're looking over a microwave oven.
That's not to say it's a bad idea, since the movie never ever pretends to have anything remotely to do with real life.
`Not pretending to be what I'm not: noble, or worthy of exemption. FAMILY PICTURES
He had to email and call people pretending to be from hotels they had used asking for payment. The Sun
Why on earth should we pretend otherwise? The Sun
I looked at the aisles of Oreos and Clorox cleaner, pretending to shop, but window-shopping at a gas station minimart, I found out, was nearly impossible. The Adults
You just have to pretend to be dead. Times, Sunday Times
Such changes towards a commercialized society destabilized Scottish society, leading to support for the Stuart pretender across the seas in France.
None of these no-good fishermen who'll pretend to guard our equipment and then steal it-get honest men. THREE IN ONE
If, in the final analysis, it's really just a jolly good opportunity for a piss-up and a social then why not stop pretending and just call it that? Archive 2007-07-01
But really, Michael Ignatieff is supposed to be able to "do better" by pretending to be a comfie casual dude in his demin shirt in front of a tree. Another Mediocre Liberal Ad
He doesn't criticize the vice-president marketing's expert judgement nor pretend he could do better himself.
Wallace, whose father liked to pretend that he could trace his family tree back to William of that ilk and claim kinship, proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection independently of Darwin.
The conductor told us to lock the cabins and not let anyone inside unless he told us to because thieves pretending to be police quite often preyed on the sleeping cars parked in the sidetracks.
She pretended to be riveted by the alignment of the deep V of her décolletage. AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Eleanor was wrong to try and pretend otherwise.
Let's pretend we live in a cave!
That's why for every 50-year-old man in a ponytail and tight jeans, there's a 50-year-old woman in a Jaeger twinset a few paces behind, pretending she's not with him.
She pretended illness as an excuse.
You can go to land of make believe and you can pretend, but in the end you still have no friends Ted, I think this is goodbye.
If, again, it is permitted to pretend that the passage has another meaning, and was written as it is from some reason unknown to us, this is no less than a complete subversal of the Bible; for every absurd and evil invention of human perversity could thus, without detriment to Scriptural authority, be defended and fostered. Theologico-Political Treatise
Matt, if you want higher inflation just pretend this is 1979 and you live in a time before the invention of the three key weapons we now use the combat the evil inflationary menace: substitution, weighting, and hedonics. Matthew Yglesias » (Part of) The Case for Higher Inflation
You mustn't pretend to be something else. Times, Sunday Times
Mama pretended to busy herself with threading a needle, but I could tell that it was only show.
He was always deeply irritated by the need - which all politicians must accept from time to time - to pretend, dissimulate and act a part.
He was plainly and unpretendingly dressed in a suit of dark gray, and I stepped right up to him and said: "Mr. President, is this you? Sunshine and Shadow of Slave Life. Reminiscences As Told by Isaac D. Williams to "Tege"
So publicly we tried to pretend not to care as well. 21 DOG YEARS
Suddenly, the hurdling landscape is vibrant, young pretenders jostling for prominence in a fascinatingly fluid cast. Times, Sunday Times
They use real footage of a dead firefighter being carried from the rubble, and then hire two spokesmodels to pretend to be firemen in a ‘firehouse.’
He did not see his seed, nor prolong his days, since he died childless; and we will not permit the word seed to be spiritualized on this occasion, for the word seed in the Old Testament, means nothing else, than literally children, which it is not pretended he ever had; and how could he prolong his days, when he was cut off in his 33d year. The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old
Of course, it's not good to see a cherished icon of the community disappear in a puff of smoke, but I can't pretend my feelings about the disappearance of this old bird were anything but mixed.
Although they are pretending hard to be young, grey hair and cellulite give them away.
This is not to say that making promises is unimportant, but rather that we accept promise-breaking in everyday life with more magnanimity than we sometimes pretend.
Diana hopes that all the pressures of trying to pretend to loyal supporters about her marriage will now be removed.
To pretend otherwise and act all hurt is plain daft. Times, Sunday Times
They had to drink seltzer water instead of champagne and had even been given a pasteboard turkey which they were expected to pretend to consume.
We'd better pretend to get prepared by pretending we have a super-duper laser beam bomb annihilator thingy. Hullabaloo
I wonder if pretender is going to do that dumb ass Bruce Springsteen crap today. Think Progress » Church Uses Marquee To Speak Out Against Beck: ‘Sorry Mr Beck, Jesus Preached Social Justice’
He hit the big time in the 1970s with stuttering performances as he pretended to have a sound problem. The Sun
It was about this time that the nasally - voiced receptionist decided that she really couldn't pretend that Alli was not waiting any longer.
The apostle's anointing was in order to heal the disease; the popish anointing is for the expulsion of the relics of sin, and to enable the soul (as they pretend) the better to combat with the powers of the air. Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation)
It would, however, be disingenuous to pretend that everything in a reduced world will be comfortable to accept.
A man pretending to be a faith healer has conned around ￡20,000 out of desperate sick people.
Anjali Sircar, tired of room hunting, asked her distant cousin, Yash, to pretend to be her fiancé and wangled a single room at Khar.
He buys one and thinks as he eats it how he used to pretend that he didn't like yams, chitterlings, and other soul food because he thought liking that food made him seem ignorant and common.
I can't pretend to understand all this.
You won't be able to resist the urge to sing along pretending your hairbrush is a microphone. They sing, you sing, let's all sing!
The Nutcracker — but not any of the chopped-down, bowdlerized, amputated versions pretending to be the real story. In the dead of winter «
Revolutions only succeed in Britain if they pretend to be fondly restoring the past, not accelerating change.
Children decorated the tree with lights, baubles, tinsel, snow and pretend gifts yesterday.
Every magician has a trick that goes wrong, but you can turn this to your advantage by pretending it was deliberate and making the audience laugh.
•Bacchus, I (hall not pretend to determine: but as the noble crop - ping, mentioned above, took. .place after dinner, there is fome reafqn to think Bacchus had his Sporting Magazine
The same course he adopted with those that held Hispalis, who at first, pretending to be willing, had accepted a garrison from him, but later massacred the soldiers that had come there, and entered upon a course of warfare. Dio's Rome, Volume 2 An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus; and Now Presented in English Form. Second Volume Extant Books 36-44 (B.C.
You're just pretending that you're asleep.
I'm not sure why this thing not being a game changer is important: with the remaining number of primaries a big-margin victory in each of those primaries is of an extreme importance to Hillary, so it was the game changer in a way that it says loud and clear "Hillary, stop pretending that you can win. Obama, Clinton aides spin primary results
He elevated it to chest height, and pretended to load it.
He's not asleep - he's just pretending.
Look, I know the Conservatives are busy pretending they believe in anthropogenic global warming to appeal to the centre-left, but spare me. 2008 August 13 « Unambiguously Ambidextrous
She is harsh and undutiful to him, and her servants either refuse to obey his orders or pretend that they did not hear them.
So please, stop pretending that the motivations for this are inexplicable.
Beth rolled her eyes at her, then put up an imaginary microphone, pretending that she was a game show host.
Meanwhile, the federalists try to pretend that this is not happening, or that it will not matter.
No one was pretending the new numbers were anywhere near as good as the old favourites. Times, Sunday Times
They visited the keeper of the jewels and Maria pretended to faint to cause a distraction.
There's just something about a bunch of people charging around the woods with plastic swords pretending to kill/be monsters that makes me hug myself with glee.
`If they come for you we'll hide you, pretend you died, pretend you're in the cess pit with the rest. IN LOVE AND WAR
Maybe he wasn't really that arrogant, cocky egomaniac that he pretended to be.
All my life, I've only been pretending. Without me, his world will go on turning. A world that's full of happiness that I have never known.
Clementine : Come back and make up a good - bye, at least. Let's pretend we had one.
It was like him to play his poor joke gamily, at the last, and pretend he didn't care. The Rim of the Desert
Fairfax pretends that the maniacal noise was made by Grace Poole, a rather dumpy, unprepossessing servant.
The correlation was never absolute, so it was defined as absolute, to pretend to scientificity.
I pretended not to hear what he muttered under his breath. Times, Sunday Times
Day visited Sir Norman at his nursing home last year and said that despite his failing health, he remembered pretending to stumble after receiving his knighthood from the Queen in 2000, asking: "Do you remember when I tripped? Norman Wisdom, last survivor of the music halls, dies aged 95
We can't just go on pretending that everything is OK.
I beat a very hasty retreat and the committee pretended that they hadn't seen anything. Times, Sunday Times
And no matter where she is sleeping or pretending to sleep, whether it be in our bed, on top of me, in a bassinet beside the bed, or in her crib all the way over in her own room, I am having to re-train my body to sleep.
_howling_ dervishes; all our religion consisted in howling like jackals or hyenas, with all our might, until we fell down in real or pretended convulsions. The Pacha of Many Tales
He is such a sleaze trying to pretend he's resigning because he's gay and had an affair.
It suits him to pretend not to care. Times, Sunday Times
That's called "proforma" in this business, but "pretend" is a better word. BiggerPockets Forums
The blow was struck: henceforth the interpreters and all those who had dealings with the Arabs received orders to make them understand that my pretended miracles were only the result of skill, inspired and guided by an art called prestidigitation, in no way connected with sorcery. The Lock and Key Library The most interesting stories of all nations: Real life
Let's pretend we live in a cave!
Or Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown probably too art-housey for this list, which is a fine, upstanding film, as long as you ignore everything in it that pretends to be a historical fact. Film
Not pretend to be silent but have no strength to complain.
No one could pretend it's been cheap. Times, Sunday Times
He did not kiss the old woman's hand; for, in his fatigue and depression, the necessity to pretend fell away.
I did my best to ignore him, which wasn't easy since he kept sneaking sidelong glances at me and then pretending he hadn't been.
This one consideration, I say, well weighed and applied, will retund the edge and dint of all the Socinian assaults against this great article; whom I have still observed to assert boldly, when they conclude weakly, and in all their arguments to prove nothing more than this, that the greatest pretenders to, are not always the greatest masters of reason. Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions. Vol. III.
At each execution of a traitor, or pretended such, anguish seizes the survivors.
He pretended that resigning was part of his long - term career strategy.

How To Use Pretend In A Sentence

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