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

Buruk hit the turf, holding his face as if grievous harm had been inflicted. —Nick Miller, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025

Much of this can be attributed to flying down the middle of the South Island of New Zealand and seeing the green and treeless mountains in the light of late day, as if the whole island had just pushed itself up from the blue-green sea. —Ann Patchett, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025

Amy’s predicament on Doc is a unique one—reliving certain moments and experiencing them as if for the first time. —Eric Andersson, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2025

Picasso looked up the circular column to the lights of the bank lobby above, as if doing calculations in his head. —Christopher C. Gorham september 29, Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 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