pretended
Americanadjective
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insincerely or falsely professed.
a pretended interest in art.
-
feigned, fictitious, or counterfeit.
His pretended wealth was proved to be nonexistent.
-
alleged or asserted; reputed.
Other Word Forms
- pretendedly adverb
- self-pretended adjective
- unpretended adjective
Etymology
Origin of pretended
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; pretend, -ed 2
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.
The vice president pretended to pivot from “a longer discussion” of the subject, but then he immediately started pontificating about the culture’s “desire” to classify “celestial beings who fly around “as aliens.”
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026
It’s that it apparently knowingly produced fake results and falsely pretended they were real and accurate.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026
They were what “so many Germans pretended to have been after the war: unpolitisch, ‘apolitical.’”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
In the campaign identified by Dutch intelligence agencies, hackers pretended to be Signal Support to try and get people to share account details.
From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026
I pretended I was happy for the space so he didn’t feel bad.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
