make-believe

1 of 2

noun

make-be·​lieve ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēv How to pronounce make-believe (audio)
variants or less commonly make-belief
: a pretending that what is not real is real
a fiction writer's childish willingness to immerse himself in make-believeJohn Updike

make-believe

2 of 2

adjective

Examples of make-believe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
But Take Note This block set includes several small figurines, which can encourage an autistic child to engage in make-believe play and strengthen their social skills. Laura Lu, Ms, Parents, 6 Mar. 2024 Born in Nigeria in 1984 and raised in London, she is best known for spinning classical fairy tales into new forms, not to clumsily revise their politics in the way of the who-asked-for-this Disney reboots, but to use make-believe to defamiliarize all that we have been made to believe. Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2024 Stella is available in various skin tones and comes with a magnetic pacifier that little ones can use for make-believe play. Christine Luff, Parents, 27 Feb. 2024 Mattel's Barbie, born and raised in the make-believe town of Willows, Wisconsin, is the most famous fictional character on our list, with over 138,000 average pageviews per year. Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 21 Feb. 2024 Grounding, representativeness, and scalability are all unsolved challenges Ultimately, the aim is for AI simulations to accurately model real-world, rather than make-believe, scenarios. Joanne Chen, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 This is its virtue: to switch off, to put a stop to make-believe. Elizabeth Barber, Harper's Magazine, 9 Feb. 2024 Arko uses vivid colors to create a make-believe world for his main character, also called Arko. Vanessa Infanzon, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 The book is also a meditation on the very fine line between make-believe and reality. The Week Us, theweek, 18 Jan. 2024
Adjective
Yet in the past, intimate scenes in theater, film and television were rarely treated with the same mindfulness as a make-believe duel. Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 17 Mar. 2023 The internet provided a fertile new stage for my proclivity for make-believe. Kira Homsher, Longreads, 14 Mar. 2023 Video-game make-believe becomes heinous when presented as realistic TV drama. Armond White, National Review, 1 Mar. 2023 Life doesn’t work out the way one wishes, even for make-believe characters. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'make-believe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1794, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1806, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of make-believe was in 1794

Dictionary Entries Near make-believe

Cite this Entry

“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make-believe. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

make-believe

1 of 2 noun
make-be·​lieve
ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēv
: a pretending to be another person or character (as in the play of children)

make-believe

2 of 2 adjective
: imaginary
was only a make-believe lion

More from Merriam-Webster on make-believe

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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