masquerade

American  

[mas-kuh-reyd] / 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.

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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

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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, jettisons the animal masquerade for a different kind of drag extravaganza.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

The Elwood Club at the Pendry Newport Beach hotel in Newport Beach, Calif., for example, gives members access to the hotel’s on-site personal trainer and hosts an annual masquerade party for members only.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 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

The animal itself was as peaceful and well-behaved as that father of all picture-wolves—Red Riding Hood’s quondam friend, whilst moving her confidence in masquerade.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

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

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

Over eight weeks in the run-up to the event, the artists at her Harlesden studio, Mahogany Carnival, pour their hearts and souls into designing and constructing unique masquerades for 200 revellers.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2023

But is wearing a squishy shoe that masquerades as a hard-soled one really all that terrible?

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023

I have heard about the masquerades in England, with their grand costumes and music and acting, but only nobles are allowed to see them.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness, the senior investigating officer in the case, said McCullagh "masqueraded as a caring partner".

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

“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

Meanwhile, Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Pinault shared a laugh, Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh looked stunned and an impostor donkey masqueraded as Jenny from “The Banshees of Inisherin.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 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

Her view is that the current high prices reflect “nothing more than just geopolitical noise masquerading as a structural deficit.”

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 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

Their stories were safe and strategic— humblebrags masquerading as embarrassment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

"If you're still hoping they'll change their mind, or if you're staying connected to monitor their dating life, that's attachment masquerading as friendship," says Kate.

From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026

Confronted with the new fact—that his company was effectively long $50 billion in triple-B subprime mortgage bonds, masquerading as triple-A-rated diversified pools of consumer loans—Cassano at first sought to rationalize it.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis