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Synonyms

make-believe

American  
[meyk-bi-leev] / ˈmeɪk bɪˌliv /

noun

  1. pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; playacting; fantasy.

    the make-believe of children playing.

  2. a pretender; a person who pretends.

adjective

  1. pretended; feigned; imaginary; made-up; unreal.

    a make-believe world of fantasy.
make believe British  

verb

  1. to pretend or enact a fantasy

    the children made believe they were doctors
"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

noun

    1. a fantasy, pretence, or unreality

    2. ( as modifier )

      a make-believe world

  2. 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
make believe Idioms  

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

Etymology

Origin of make-believe

First recorded in 1805–15

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.