kayfabe
Americannoun
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Wrestling. the portrayal of staged events, narratives, and characters as real.
-
an elaborate, performative fiction.
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.
They’ve become experts in kayfabe, the dramatic art of masking fake conflict as real.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
Did you find it a challenge to separate the truth from the kayfabe — the wrestling stagecraft?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2023
The announcement effectively reinvented the kayfabe universe of WWE by blurring lines between fact and fiction as McMahon simultaneously continued his real-life reign as the industry’s kingpin and became a star in the ring.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2023
Donaghy appeared to help Holliday win the match creating kayfabe controversy in MLW.
From Fox News ● Jan. 29, 2021
My advice for Henry C. Santini is simple: quit breaking kayfabe before you screw this up for the rest of us.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2018
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.
