Dictionary.com

make-believe

[ meyk-bi-leev ]
/ ˈmeɪk bɪˌliv /
See synonyms for make-believe on Thesaurus.com

noun

pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; feigning; sham: the make-believe of children playing.
a pretender; a person who pretends.

adjective

pretended; feigned; imaginary; made-up; unreal: a make-believe world of fantasy.

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Origin of make-believe

First recorded in 1805–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to make-believe

imaginary, fictional, simulated, charade, fantasy, pretend, dream, mock, sham, pageant, disguise, pretense, imagination, pretentiousness, pretension, playacting, dissimulation, fakery, fraudulent, made-up

British Dictionary definitions for make-believe

make believe

verb

to pretend or enact a fantasythe children made believe they were doctors

noun make-believe

  1. a fantasy, pretence, or unreality
  2. (as modifier)a make-believe world
a person who pretends
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with make-believe

make believe

Pretend, as in Let's make believe we're elves. This expression in effect means making oneself believe in an illusion. [Early 1700s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.