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.

---

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

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

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 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

They got up a masquerade, and had a gay time New Year’s Eve.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

The track masquerades as easygoing reggae-pop, but the singer is looking for payback—it turns out she’s grinning because her cheating ex is now crying.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025

But it all falls broadly under the same boring commodification of the idea of “mental health”: a sweatshirt or a lipstick or a funny TikTok video that masquerades as more than it is.

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2023

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

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

He later masqueraded online as a Russian tech worker with a pseudonym, BadVolf, to leak confidential information in violation of state law, fooling officials in Florida who thought they were dealing with a foreigner.

From New York Times ● May 29, 2024

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 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

I keep coming back to psychoanalyst Karen Horney’s 1950 discussion of neurosis and the professions—how they can attract exactly the wrong people, masquerading ideals they don’t possess.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

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

Weiss represents a particular archetype of our post-journalism era: the personal brand masquerading as authority.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 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

On Oakland’s fringe there was a neighborhood, masquerading as an entirely separate town, called Rockridge.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis