make-believe

1 of 2

noun

make-be·​lieve ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēv 

variants or less commonly make-belief

ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēf 

: a pretending that what is not real is real

a fiction writer's childish willingness to immerse himself in make-believe

—John Updike

make-believe

2 of 2

adjective

: imaginary, pretended

Synonyms

Adjective

• imaginary
• fictitious
• mythic
• fictional
• mythical
• fantasied
• fantastical

Examples of make-believe in a Sentence

Adjective

zoomed around the house in a make-believe car

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The visual style is graphic and minimal — legs are sticks, bodies are basically balls — and Quack’s curmudgeonly disposition provides just the right amount of vinegar, which may be why, long after my daughter has moved out of the neighborhood of make-believe, she’s still entertained by Peep. —Vulture Editors, Vulture, 23 July 2025

From the proteges of Guillermo del Toro, this stop-motion fantasy — about a little girl in 19th-century Mexico, whose make-believe stories connect to another world — is a labor of love by nature. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 23 July 2025

Adjective

Yet in the past, intimate scenes in theater, film and television were rarely treated with the same mindfulness as a make-believe duel. —Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 17 Mar. 2023

The internet provided a fertile new stage for my proclivity for make-believe. —Kira Homsher, Longreads, 14 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1794, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1806, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for make-believe

• achieve
• believe
• conceive
• deceive
• naive
• perceive
• receive
• relieve
• reprieve
• retrieve
• breve
• cleave

Kids Definition

make-believe

1 of 2 noun

make-be·​lieve

ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēv

: a pretending to be another person or character (as in the play of children)

make-believe

2 of 2 adjective

: imaginary

was only a make-believe lion