masquerade
Americannoun
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a party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises, and often elegant, historical, or fantastic costumes.
- Synonyms:
- mummery
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a costume or disguise worn at such a gathering.
-
false outward show; façade; pretense.
a hypocrite's masquerade of virtue.
-
activity, existence, etc., under false pretenses.
a rich man's masquerade as a beggar.
verb (used without object)
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to go about under false pretenses or a false character; assume the character of; give oneself out to be.
to masquerade as a former Russian count.
-
to disguise oneself.
-
to take part in a masquerade.
noun
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a party or other gathering to which the guests wear masks and costumes
-
the disguise worn at such a function
-
a pretence or disguise
verb
-
to participate in a masquerade; disguise oneself
-
to dissemble
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
masqueradesimple
-
masqueradessimple
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have masqueradedperfect
-
has masqueradedperfect
-
am masqueradingprogressive
-
are masqueradingprogressive
-
is masqueradingprogressive
-
have been masqueradingperfect progressive
-
has been masqueradingperfect progressive
Past
-
masqueradedsimple
-
had masqueradedperfect
-
was masqueradingprogressive
-
were masqueradingprogressive
-
had been masqueradingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of masquerade
1580–90; earlier masquerada, mascarado, pseudo-Spanish forms of Middle French mascarade < Upper Italian mascherada; see mask, -ade 1
Explanation
To masquerade means "to pretend to be someone else." If you masquerade as a sweet, kind-hearted person, you present that image to the world, hiding your true identity as a jerk who has rage issues. As a verb, masquerade can also mean to dress up as someone else, in costume. At the parade, you will masquerade as the court jester, wearing a purple outfit and bells and tossing candy to little kids. The noun masquerade refers to both your costume, which usually includes a mask, and the event where you will wear it. The fun is in hiding your real identity for the night.
Vocabulary lists containing masquerade
Born a Crime
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This Week in Words: November 26 - December 1, 2017
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Mardi Gras: Fun
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The author’s ambivalence resembles that of the fellow who supposedly protested the mixing of classes on the dance floor by commissioning a wood-and-plaster coffin as a costume for a Cornelys masquerade in 1771.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Afterward the beau monde had a few days to find new costumes for the Monday Mayday masquerade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The production, co-directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, ditches the feline masquerade for a parade of costumes designed with unflagging inspiration by Qween Jean.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
The Bohemian second son has so far refused to settle down, but this all changes when he meets a masked lady in silver at a masquerade ball.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026
He couldn’t even come up with something to masquerade as a gift.
From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin
The track masquerades as easygoing reggae-pop, but the singer is looking for payback—it turns out she’s grinning because her cheating ex is now crying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Because it often masquerades as self-control or health-consciousness, orthorexia is easy to overlook, even by people suffering from it.
From Slate ● May 25, 2025
Although the letter doesn’t clearly define pseudoscience, Lau notes that a “commonsensical definition” is that pseudoscience refers to “something that is not very scientifically supported, that masquerades as if it is already very scientifically established.”
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
For more than 50 years the dazzling feather outfits, extravagant headdresses and sparkling masquerades of the Notting Hill Carnival have filled the streets of west London.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2023
I have heard about the masquerades in England, with their grand costumes and music and acting, but only nobles are allowed to see them.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness, the senior investigating officer in the case, said McCullagh "masqueraded as a caring partner".
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
“For over a decade, these three brothers, the defendants, masqueraded as party boys when really they were predators,” said prosecutor Madison Smyser.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
Last season he had masqueraded as Player 001, fooling Gi-hun into trusting him throughout the games and with the armed rebellion, which Front Man of course sabotaged.
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2025
One impostor account with a check mark masqueraded as Eli Lilly, tweeting on Thursday that the pharmaceutical company would provide free insulin to its customers.
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
“I assumed a fake identity and masqueraded as an indentured servant to infiltrate IOI’s corporate headquarters. I’ve been there for the past eight days. I just now escaped.”
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
“Employees often feel safer owning the company they know, but that can be familiarity bias masquerading as investment analysis,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
To start, they’ve been masquerading as a vegetable when they are actually classified as botanical fruits.
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026
“This is a fight about vibes and personalities masquerading as a policy dispute,” said Michael Horowitz, a former Defense Department official who worked on AI policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
A Canadian man, Dallas Pokornik, is accused of masquerading as both a pilot and a flight attendant, allegedly raking in hundreds of free flights over four years, US authorities said.
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
Who was the man or woman masquerading in Wagon Lit uniform?
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
