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

Trailing by 13 points in the fourth quarter, Kansas’ alumni men’s basketball team looked as if it was destined to drop its second game in two nights to Kansas State and bow out of the TBT mighty early. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026

All the while, Abernethy, Granger and Oberhelman each began meticulously documenting events and collecting emails and other records—as if chronicling grievances became a key part of their jobs. — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 23 July 2026

Burial is far and away the blueprint here, evident in the vespertine pads, tape hiss, and hauntological vocal flips, deployed as if overheard from a distant astral plane. — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 23 July 2026

Each vase was envisaged with soft ripples as if they were shaped by water, wind and time itself. — Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 23 July 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