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

• 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

And in far less consequential territory, some are calling out Metro being from St. Louis, as if that precludes him from celebrating Atlanta. —Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 7 Aug. 2025

Each consideration was dressed through Morticia’s viewpoint as if she were given a blank canvas to express her own look. —Daron James, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2025

Earlier this year, as if these anxieties bubbled up to the point of combustion, Los Angeles, the global center of the movie industry, literally burst into flames. —Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 7 Aug. 2025

Trump was asked by a reporter, Brian Glenn of Real America’s Voice, about the report as if it had been confirmed. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2025

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