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 of as if

• 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

The gathered detailing on the backrest of this velvety loveseat looks as if the couch was dipped in chocolate. — Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026

Instead of smooth slabs, every surface around the rover is textured by small polygons, each a few inches across, as if someone covered Mars in honeycomb wallpaper. — Ashwin R. Vasavada, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026

That might also explain the movie’s attempts to supercharge its few action sequences, as if the filmmakers realized belatedly that a sad book without much incident wasn’t exactly prime summer studio release fodder. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026

Maine election officials are moving forward as if nothing will change, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said. — Sarah D. Wire, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for as if

• biff
• cliff
• diff
• glyph
• griff
• riff
• schiff
• skiff
• sniff
• stiff
• tiff
• whiff

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