pretend
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
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to appear falsely, as to deceive; feign.
to pretend to go to sleep.
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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.
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to allege or profess, especially insincerely or falsely.
He pretended to have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
verb (used without object)
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pretends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pretended,
past participle, past
-
pretending
present participle
-
to make believe.
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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
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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
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pretendssimple
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have pretendedperfect
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has pretendedperfect
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am pretendingprogressive
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are pretendingprogressive
-
is pretendingprogressive
-
have been pretendingperfect progressive
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has been pretendingperfect progressive
Past
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pretendedsimple
-
had pretendedperfect
-
was pretendingprogressive
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were pretendingprogressive
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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:
Picture-perfect, Mozart-drunk Salzburg can’t pretend everything is fine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Jamil later defended her post, pointing to the “young girls” who are watching the situation unfold, adding, “We don’t have to pretend we are blind because it’s a pop star.”
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
All of these companies have warned consumers that bad actors will continue to pretend to be something they’re not.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Let’s not pretend those were the good old days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
“I don’t pretend, Fly,” she said, using his nickname for the first time.
From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan
What’s disheartening is that she pretends there is no connection, telling Vogue Italia last week, “Algorithms and artificial intelligence are the opposite of taking risks to me, and that is the opposite of making art.”
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
In other words, European rearmament will take time, and nobody even pretends that European troops are today fully prepared to replace American brigades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
"He is not happy, he pretends he is happy," said Tamim.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Under the blazing Vegas sun, giant billboards advertise "Live Enhanced" as the baritone voice of a sports announcer pretends to introduce British swimmer Ben Proud and other athletes.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
One pretends to be a tiger and jumps straight through the paper screen, tackling his opponent without bothering to see what he was posing as.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Rand pretended to be me and I pretended to be Rand,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“Toy Story” and its four sequels encouraged imagination and playfulness by giving toys the same kinds of personalities that children pretended the toys already had, sending them on adventures big and small.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
It’s been widely reported that in the ’80s and ’90s, Trump sometimes pretended to be his own publicist, John Barron, when talking to reporters.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Dad pretended nothing had gone wrong, which felt worse than being chewed out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
“There must be little here to interest you, then,” she said, and pretended to go back to reading about the Spanish Armada.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Salzburg, Austria — “Optimism doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine,” the Belarusian flutist and political activist Maria Kalesnikava said in this year’s Salzburg Festival keynote address.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
I studied the pastries while pretending not to listen: tea-infused buns knotted with candied citrus, laminated pastry layered with spiced cream cheese, craggy oat muffins dotted with boysenberry preserves.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Nobody in Austin is pretending this is easy or cheap.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026
And now a warning: This could also be an elaborate scam — a scammer pretending to be from Fidelity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
They had been pretending not to know each other on the tour for laughs.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
