Synonyms for pretend

Synonyms for (noun) pretend

Synonyms: make-believe, pretend

Definition: the enactment of a pretense

Usage: it was just pretend

Similar words: simulation, pretence, pretending, pretense, feigning

Definition: the act of giving a false appearance

Usage: his conformity was only pretending


Synonyms for (verb) pretend

Synonyms: pretend, profess

Definition: state insincerely

Usage: He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt; She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber; She pretends to be an expert on wine

Similar words: claim

Definition: assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing

Usage: He claimed that he killed the burglar


Synonyms: sham, dissemble, feign, pretend, affect

Definition: make believe with the intent to deceive

Usage: He feigned that he was ill; He shammed a headache

Similar words: belie, misrepresent

Definition: represent falsely

Usage: This statement misrepresents my intentions


Synonyms: make, make believe, pretend

Definition: represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like

Usage: She makes like an actress

Similar words: represent, play, act

Definition: play a role or part

Usage: Gielgud played Hamlet; She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role; She played the servant to her husband's master


Synonyms: pretend, guess, hazard, venture

Definition: put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation

Usage: I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again; I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong

Similar words: speculate

Definition: talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion

Usage: We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal


Synonyms: pretend

Definition: put forward a claim and assert right or possession of

Usage: pretend the title of King

Similar words: claim, lay claim, arrogate

Definition: demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to

Usage: He claimed his suitcases at the airline counter; Mr. Smith claims special tax exemptions because he is a foreign resident


Synonyms for (adj) pretend

Synonyms: make-believe, pretend

Definition: imagined as in a play

Usage: the make-believe world of theater; play money; dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish

Similar words: unreal

Definition: lacking in reality or substance or genuineness; not corresponding to acknowledged facts or criteria

Usage: ghosts and other unreal entities; unreal propaganda serving as news


Visual thesaurus for pretend