make-believe
noun
pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; playacting; fantasy.
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make-believe
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make believe
make believeverbto pretend or enact a fantasy
make-believe
American
[mayk-bi-leev]
/ ˈmeɪk bɪˌliv /
noun
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pretense, especially of an innocent or playful kind; playacting; fantasy.
the make-believe of children playing.
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a pretender; a person who pretends.
adjective
make believe
British
verb
noun
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a fantasy, pretence, or unreality
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( as modifier )
a make-believe world
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a person who pretends
make believe
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of make-believe
First recorded in 1805–15
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:
Photo make-believe: I’m conflicted about the new suite of Apple Intelligence photo-editing tools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
But make-believe can only get one so far when the real world keeps intruding.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Performing and make-believe eased my anxieties. I was able to step outside of myself,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
And with every request comes an unspoken plea for understanding, no matter how far into the land of make-believe they’re asking to be led.
From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2026
Then Renee looked at the make-believe camera as if she was checking the photo—guess it was an invisible digital—and teased, “Yikes, not your best face.”
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
“To share a space with your imagination is sacred — breathing the same air in the land of make believe and trusting that each others’ hearts are safe in their expression.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
Bitcoin might be make believe, but it’s also the center of speculative activity in financial markets.
From Barron's ● Dec. 2, 2025
“And just make believe and playing. And then on a personal level, I think I learned how to be myself … that everyone would accept me for who I was.”
From Washington Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
They knew, however, that unlike the characters they portrayed, they would return to their ordered lives when their work was done — that they were ultimately playing make believe.
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 2022
We’d make believe twist the rope around a cleet.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
