pretend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
pretends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pretended,
past participle, past
-
pretending
present participle
-
to cause or attempt to cause (what is not so) to seem so.
to pretend illness; to pretend that nothing is wrong.
- Synonyms:
- counterfeit, sham, fake, simulate
-
to appear falsely, as to deceive; feign.
to pretend to go to sleep.
-
to make believe.
The children pretended to be cowboys.
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to presume; venture.
I can't pretend to say what went wrong.
-
to allege or profess, especially insincerely or falsely.
He pretended to have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
verb (used without object)
-
pretends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pretended,
past participle, past
-
pretending
present participle
-
to make believe.
-
to lay claim to (usually followed byto ).
She pretended to the throne.
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to make pretensions (usually followed byto ).
He pretends to great knowledge.
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Obsolete. to aspire, as a suitor or candidate (followed byto ).
adjective
verb
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(when tr, usually takes a clause as object or an infinitive) to claim or allege (something untrue)
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(tr; may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to make believe, as in a play
you pretend to be Ophelia
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to present a claim, esp a dubious one
to pretend to the throne
-
obsolete to aspire as a candidate or suitor (for)
adjective
Synonym Usage
Pretend, affect, assume, feign imply an attempt to create a false appearance. To pretend is to create an imaginary characteristic or to play a part: to pretend sorrow. To affect is to make a consciously artificial show of having qualities that one thinks would look well and impress others: to affect shyness. To assume is to take on or put on a specific outward appearance, often (but not always) with intent to deceive: to assume an air of indifference. To feign implies using ingenuity in pretense, and some degree of imitation of appearance or characteristics: to feign surprise.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pretendsimple
-
pretendssimple
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have pretendedperfect
-
has pretendedperfect
-
am pretendingprogressive
-
are pretendingprogressive
-
is pretendingprogressive
-
have been pretendingperfect progressive
-
has been pretendingperfect progressive
Past
-
pretendedsimple
-
had pretendedperfect
-
was pretendingprogressive
-
were pretendingprogressive
-
had been pretendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pretend
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English pretenden, from Latin praetendere “to stretch forth, put forward, pretend.” See pre-, tend 1
Explanation
To pretend is to act as if you're someone else. If you pretend to be your mother for a phone conference with your math teacher, try putting on her high heels to help you get into character. When children or actors are pretending, it's fine, just playing. But if you pretend to someone who doesn't know you're just playing, you're likely to be condemned for it. No one likes it of you pretend to be a good member of the community just so people won't suspect you when you steal things from their houses. You might pretend you went to Harvard to impress someone, but if he finds out you didn't, he'll be very unimpressed.
Vocabulary lists containing pretend
"Eleven"
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"Eleven," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, Chapters 1–3
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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:
The double standard has always been there, but now it’s too obvious to pretend away or disguise.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
It's what some ministers call "the politics of trying" – putting time and effort into ideas that you don't pretend are revolutionary, but give direction, and a sense of sympathy to the public.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Advisers don’t have to pretend they know it all.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
“That should only take a minute and he’s on his way. We don’t need to pretend we give a shit about each other.”
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
I go out with Rhys, even though I don’t have the energy to pretend I want to.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
A 2016 video of Pulido has generated controversy, in which he pretends to urinate on Trump's star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
Early musical shorts like “Morning Walk” and “Danielleanika” lean into his stoic, awkward persona as he pretends to rap or sing a passionate love song.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
Fearing that the surprise visitor might be a “dangle”—someone who pretends to switch sides to gain a foothold in the enemy camp—his hosts were wary at first.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Sean O'Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the country's biggest unions, verbally attacked Mullin at a 2023 hearing, calling him a "greedy CEO who pretends like he's self-made".
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
She looks up and smiles into my lens and then pretends to engross herself in her work.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
He slipped on the back steps last winter, and we both pretended it didn’t scare us, but he could have just as easily slipped on another stairwell.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
Pressed — surely she’s pretended to be sick to get out of a party? — she concedes she has, explaining that she thought he meant the criminal case against her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
A classic Arabic expression describes the brazen audacity of those who attack and then cry victim: “He slapped me, pretended to cry, and then ran to complain.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
He then pretended to board the old Air Force One, only to secretly switch planes by hiding in a refueling truck, due to security threats.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
“When these two pretended to be lost in the halls of the middle school, only two students dropped everything to offer assistance.”
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Fielder is left wondering whether she’s genuinely unaware of the deal Evans negotiated or merely pretending not to know.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
The phone call had come from Amacher—the man now complaining the situation has been blown out of proportion—who said he had called the center, pretending to be a member of Talarico’s family.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
He said as his following has grown on social media, so have the fake accounts pretending to be him.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
In one, she holds up a finger covered in red marker to look like blood, pretending to be a patient who asks how much stitches will cost, and is later shocked by the bill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
I tap my chin, pretending to think it over, then snap my fingers.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
