masquerade
Americannoun
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a party, dance, or other festive gathering of persons wearing masks and other disguises, and often elegant, historical, or fantastic costumes.
- Synonyms:
- mummery
-
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)
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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.
noun
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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
-
to participate in a masquerade; disguise oneself
-
to dissemble
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
masqueradesimple
-
masqueradessimple
-
have masqueradedperfect
-
has masqueradedperfect
-
am masqueradingprogressive
-
are masqueradingprogressive
-
is masqueradingprogressive
-
have been masqueradingperfect progressive
-
has been masqueradingperfect progressive
Past
-
masqueradedsimple
-
had masqueradedperfect
-
was masqueradingprogressive
-
were masqueradingprogressive
-
had been masqueradingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing masquerade
Born a Crime
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This Week in Words: November 26 - December 1, 2017
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Mardi Gras: Fun
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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:
Afterward the beau monde had a few days to find new costumes for the Monday Mayday masquerade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
The author’s ambivalence resembles that of the fellow who supposedly protested the mixing of classes on the dance floor by commissioning a wood-and-plaster coffin as a costume for a Cornelys masquerade in 1771.
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 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
His masquerades flattered his clientele, and their demand created a service industry.
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
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
While evading police, Morgan masqueraded as a rapper and tech entrepreneur.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2023
One of the nation’s leading authorities on cults that masqueraded as churches, schools, self-help centers and wellness movements, Morantz died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, his son Chaz said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
He had masqueraded at the hospital for eight years conducting competency evaluations on people accused of crimes before his fraud was uncovered.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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
Their stories were safe and strategic— humblebrags masquerading as embarrassment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Justina, 45, from Cardiff, opened her restaurant about a year ago and said she had noticed an "overwhelming presence of chain restaurants, sometimes masquerading as independents" on delivery apps.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2026
"It's masquerading as a planet because planets also look like tiny dots orbiting nearby stars."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 7, 2026
"In truth, I wore skirts and bodices regularly only after I began masquerading as a boy."
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
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.
