pretend
verb
- assert a fiction
adjective
- not real; make-believe
noun
- The action or an act of pretending in imagination or play
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /pɹəˈtɛnd/ / /pɹiˈtɛnd/ / /pɹɪˈtɛnd/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend-der. Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin praetendōbor. Anglo-Norman pretendreder. English pretend From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.
- Not really what it is represented as being; imaginary, feigned.
“As children we used to go on "spying" missions around the neighbour's house, but it was all pretend.”
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend-der. Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin praetendōbor. Anglo-Norman pretendreder. English pretend From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.
- The act of engaging in pretend play.
“We used to dress up in our grandparents' old clothes and play pretend.”
verb
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend-der. Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin praetendōbor. Anglo-Norman pretendreder. English pretend From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.
- To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
“You don't have to pretend that the soup tastes fine.”
“You don't have to pretend to like the soup.”
- To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
“She moved her fingers across the desk, pretending to play the piano.”
“She didn't have a real piano to play, so she just pretended.”
- To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
“She's pretending illness to get out of the business meeting.”
“He pretended an air of indifference that he'd never assumed before.”
- To lay claim (to an ability, status, advantage, etc.).
“The family's exile was intended to stop them pretending to the throne.”
“Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.”
- To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
“Lest that too heavenly form, pretended / To hellish falsehood, snare them.”
- To intend; to design, to plot; to attempt.
“Such as shall pretend / Malicious practices against his state.”
- To hold before one; to extend.
“Pastorella […] Was by the Captaine all this while defended, / Who, minding more her safety then himselfe, / His target alwayes over her pretended[…].”
“But had thoſe vvits the vvonders of their dayes, / Or that ſvveete Teian Poet [Anacreon] vvhich did ſpend / His plenteous vaine in ſetting forth her [Venus's] prayſe, / Seene but a glims of this, vvhich I pretend, / Hovv vvondrouſly vvould he her face commend, […]”