masquerade

American  

[mas-kuh-rayd] / ˌmæs kəˈreɪd /

noun

• masquerades
  plural

1. 

   a party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises, and often elegant, historical, or fantastic costumes.

   Synonyms:

   mummery

2. a costume or disguise worn at such a gathering.

3. false outward show; façade; pretense.

   a hypocrite's masquerade of virtue.

4. activity, existence, etc., under false pretenses.

   a rich man's masquerade as a beggar.

---

verb (used without object)

• masquerades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• masqueraded,
  past participle,  past
• masquerading
  present participle

1. 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.

2. to disguise oneself.

3. to take part in a masquerade.

masquerade British  

/ ˌmæskəˈreɪd /

noun

1. a party or other gathering to which the guests wear masks and costumes

2. the disguise worn at such a function

3. a pretence or disguise

---

verb

1. to participate in a masquerade; disguise oneself

2. to dissemble

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• masquerader
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• masquerades
  plural

Participles

• masquerading
  present
• masqueraded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• masquerade
  simple
• masquerades
  simple
• have masqueraded
  perfect
• has masqueraded
  perfect
• am masquerading
  progressive
• are masquerading
  progressive
• is masquerading
  progressive
• have been masquerading
  perfect progressive
• has been masquerading
  perfect progressive

Past

• masqueraded
  simple
• had masqueraded
  perfect
• was masquerading
  progressive
• were masquerading
  progressive
• had been masquerading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will masquerade
  simple
• will have masqueraded
  perfect
• will be masquerading
  progressive
• will have been masquerading
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

masquerade masquerades masqueraded masquerading

When the trend for masquerade balls arrived in England, savvy promoters made them high-priced events for the followers of fashion.

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

And though the high gloss may be an act given Gaston’s actual vocation, Marshall plays the part as if the crook himself believes the masquerade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 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

Just before sunset, they left to dine with their cousins in the City before continuing on to the masquerade at the palace.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

That kind of cynicism is cheap and facile and masquerades as intelligence and erudition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

By 1717 he was soliciting his opera subscribers to buy tickets, eventually hosting six masquerades a year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

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

It masquerades as a two-dollar word, but it’s really worth only about twenty cents.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

“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

Officials say people have impersonated firefighters to get into fire-ravaged zones, and now a pair have allegedly masqueraded as members of the media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2025

While evading police, Morgan masqueraded as a rapper and tech entrepreneur.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2023

He listed all the different things his mother would put in it, like cauliflower, peas, onions, and his least favorite, turnips that masqueraded as the much more palatable potato until he bit into them.

From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan

Left alone, tradition gets sillier and more alive whether it involves a god, a robot, or a scallion masquerading as a paintbrush.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Hunter Schafer plays Yeoh’s partner, a human masquerading as a replicant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

This may be a financial burden masquerading as an opportunity.

From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026

Granola that’s either stale — thin-sliced cardstock masquerading as crunch — or so aggressively hard it feels like a dare to your dental work.

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026

“He is lunatic, or his answers are questions who is only masquerading as answers, or he is silent. Silent because you can know or you can say, but both, no. My glass is empty.”

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell