as if

conjunction

1

: as it would be if

It was as if he had lost his last friend.

2

: as one would do if

He ran as if ghosts were chasing him.

3

: that

It seemed as if the day would never end.

4

—used to say that something is not true, not possible, will not happen, etc.

"I am sure I am very affectionate," said Dora; "you oughtn't to be cruel to me, Doady!" "Cruel, my precious love! As if I would—or could—be cruel to you, for the world!"

—Charles Dickens

—sometimes used informally as an interjection to say that something suggested or claimed is impossible, incorrect, or ridiculously unlikely to be true

A simple collection of songs? As if. How about a conceptual ode to London's millennia-old history?

—Craig McLean

Big budgets? High-priced actresses? As if! The film cost a modest $13 million, a figure achieved by not casting stars, but rather stars-in-the-making …

—Nicholas Fonseca

Synonyms

• as
• as though
• like

Examples of as if in a Sentence

she looked as if she wanted to ask one more question before we left

Recent Examples on the Web

No masks can filter out ozone, so stay inside on high ozone days as if possible. —Journal Sentinel, 26 Apr. 2024

Because the government deems internet access an essential service, the FCC is promising oversight as if broadband were a public utility. —Emma Bowman, NPR, 26 Apr. 2024

In the street, she’s seen walking and talking (on the phone or in person) from far away, while the talk is heard as if from nearby, in intimate proximity. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2024

Bon’s use of chant-like repetition can feel almost liturgical, as if her purely emotional confessions might someday become sacraments. —Leah Lu, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2024

But to teach his son a lesson, Usher acted as if the teen wasn't allowed to go at first. —Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 25 Apr. 2024

Double Chocolate Brownie Shrink-wrapped as if bought at a sidewalk bake sale instead of a massive gas station, these brownies are fire. —Drew Jackson, Miami Herald, 25 Apr. 2024

National Review 2024 Election Donate Corner Magazine Login Subscribe Search Text Article Browser Educators Act as if Education Is Unimportant. —Henry Payne, National Review, 24 Apr. 2024

Society was not going to use the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery to share generic posts and act as if the knee of this country hasn’t been on the necks of Black artists and civilians for decades. —Paul Grein, Billboard, 15 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

as if

conjunction

1

: the way it would be if

it was as if we had never left

2

: the way one would do if

they acted as if they'd never heard of us

3

: that entry 2 sense 1a

it seemed as if the day would never end