masquerade

[mas-kuh-reyd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR masquerade ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a costume or disguise worn at such a gathering.

false outward show; façade; pretense: a hypocrite's masquerade of virtue.

activity, existence, etc., under false pretenses: a rich man's masquerade as a beggar.

verb (used without object), mas·quer·ad·ed, mas·quer·ad·ing.

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.

to disguise oneself.

to take part in a masquerade.

Origin of masquerade

1580–90; earlier masquerada, mascarado, pseudo-Spanish forms of Middle French mascarade < Upper Italian mascherada; see mask, -ade¹

Related formsmas·quer·ad·er, noun

Synonyms for masquerade

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR masquerade ON THESAURUS.COM

1. mummery.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for masquerade

show, color, mask, circus, revel, costume, facade, impersonation, deception, pretense, cloak, imposture, festivity, screen, pose, front, veil, cover-up, carnival, cover

Examples from the Web for masquerade

Contemporary Examples of masquerade

It builds to a masquerade ball, in which Not Harry and the women don masks and commence flirting.
You Really Don't Want to Watch Fox’s ‘I Wanna Marry “Harry”’
Jason Lynch
May 20, 2014
They masquerade as intellectual contests, but are really just showcases for rhetorical cleverness and public charisma.
My Debate With an ‘Intelligent Design’ Theorist
Karl W. Giberson
April 21, 2014
He was supposed to come back to “masquerade the relationship,” but no such luck.
Vegan Strippers Let It All Hang Out
Kelly Williams Brown
March 29, 2014
He escorts her to masquerade parties, takes her sailing on his yacht, force-feeds her oysters.
Speed Read: 12 Naughty Bits From ‘50 Shades Darker’
Lizzie Crocker
May 4, 2012
And it says something depressing about our country that it is permitted to masquerade as the former.
The Freedom to Be Fat? The Politics of Movie Popcorn, Obama, and the FDA
Michael Tomasky
April 8, 2012

Historical Examples of masquerade

And it was my fate to hear all this last night at the masquerade.
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Tell me the meaning of this masquerade; and why you have attempted so desperate an adventure?
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
Whatever the motive for his masquerade, it was not to attract anything feminine.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson
Are you dressed for a masquerade, and is this a time to go masked?
The Middle Class Gentleman
Moliere
And then too, Madame, we must try to help Cléonte's plan by supporting his masquerade.
The Middle Class Gentleman
Moliere

British Dictionary definitions for masquerade

masquerade

noun

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

the disguise worn at such a function

a pretence or disguise

verb (intr)

to participate in a masquerade; disguise oneself

to dissemble

Derived Formsmasquerader, noun

Word Origin for masquerade

C16: from Spanish mascarada, from mascara mask

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

Word Origin and History for masquerade

1590s, "assembly of people wearing masks and disguises," from French mascarade or Spanish mascarada "masked party or dance," from Italian mascarata "a ball at which masks are worn," variant of mascherata "masquerade," from maschera (see mask (n.)). Figurative sense of "false outward show" is from 1670s.

1650s, from masquerade (n.). Related: Masqueraded; masquerading.