masquerade

noun

mas·quer·ade | \ ˌma-skə-ˈrād

Definition of masquerade

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : a social gathering of persons wearing masks and often fantastic costumes

b : a costume for wear at such a gathering

2 : an action or appearance that is mere disguise or show

masquerade

verb

masqueraded; masquerading

Definition of masquerade (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : to disguise oneself also : to go about disguised

b : to take part in a masquerade

2 : to assume the appearance of something one is not

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Examples of masquerade in a Sentence

Noun

She could not keep up the masquerade any longer. although she was deeply bored, she maintained a masquerade of polite interest as her guest droned on

Verb

He was masquerading under a false name.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Share Your Soles, a nonprofit that provides new and gently worn shoes to those in need, celebrated its 20th anniversary during a masquerade party at Carnivale restaurant in Fulton Market on Aug. 23. — Candace Jordan, chicagotribune.com, "Share Your Soles’ masquerade celebrates 20 years of providing shoes for those in need," 27 Aug. 2019 Estranged from his wife, an out-of-work actor masquerades as a nanny to be with his children. — Los Angeles Times, "Here are the feature and TV films airing the week of Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019," 11 Aug. 2019 At the end of the meal, a group of Gombey dancers, an iconic symbol of Bermuda, amazed guests with a performance of drumming, dance, and masquerade. — Vogue, "The Bride Arrived By Horse and Carriage at This Wedding in Bermuda," 13 Aug. 2019 Their romance culminates in the iconic masquerade ball where Sam and Austen plan to meet for the first time IRL. — Alison Caporimo, Seventeen, "Chad Michael Murray Just Totally Shaded His 'A Cinderella Story' Character," 16 July 2019 When: October 19-26, 2019 This week-long festival, which has been celebrated for 73 years, brings together the Irvington community with a street fair, masquerade ball, zombie bike ride, vampire run, spaghetti supper, and several more unique events. — Jessica Leigh Mattern, Country Living, "24 Halloween Celebrations Across America to Spook Your Socks Off," 8 July 2019 There's no sign outside and the first-floor masquerades as something else. — Arwa Damon, CNN, "They escaped ISIS. Then they got sucked into Baghdad's sex trafficking underworld," 3 July 2019 So channel your inner artisan, and try these designs or use them as a springboard for your own masquerade ideas. — Shelley Wolson, Woman's Day, "Fancy Faces: DIY Halloween Masks," 22 Sep. 2010 In fact, the leaf-imitating spider is so good at its masquerade that only two have been found: the adult female that Kuntner found and a juvenile discovered in the same area after days of searching. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Newly Discovered Spider Looks Suspiciously Like a Leaf," 16 Nov. 2016

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Some compared her complexion to that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who gained national attention in 2015 for masquerading as black while serving as a local NAACP leader. — Janelle Griffith, NBC News, "Jennifer Aniston's dark skin tone on magazine cover prompts criticism of InStyle," 5 Sep. 2019 That’s because Sports Illustrated, keeper of bad juju masquerading as a magazine, has gone and put the Browns on the damn cover of its annual NFL Preview issue, jinxing the team and instantly killing the hopes and dreams of an entire fanbase. — Joey Morona, cleveland.com, "Uh-oh. Sports Illustrated just put the Browns on the cover of its NFL preview issue," 20 Aug. 2019 But actual fake news -- that is, false or deliberately misleading information masquerading as news -- really can be a problem. — oregonlive.com, "Kellyanne Conway ‘to lay low until the rule of law dies down’: Americans often fooled by satire, researchers find," 19 Aug. 2019 WeWork is the latest beneficiary of that optimism but also the target of skeptics, who accuse it of masquerading as a tech company without having the margins or growth potential that such companies usually bring. — Rani Molla, Vox, "If WeWork is a tech company, every company is a tech company.," 16 Aug. 2019 Racist or sexist memes, masquerading as jokes, were used to indoctrinate often young, white men into hateful ideologies. — Brian Chasnoff, ExpressNews.com, "‘A Perfect Storm’ — online hate and political winds whip up white supremacy," 10 Aug. 2019 We, along with many other bona fide marine mammal experts, and accredited zoos and aquariums are tired of activists masquerading as legitimate animal experts, and making false and outlandish claims to advance their own agenda. — Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, "Animal Welfare Group Names 12 Animal Venues to Avoid, Including Two SeaWorld Locations," 5 Aug. 2019 Authorities said a parolee with a long history of identity theft and credit card scams masqueraded as a ride-share driver downtown and cleaned out the bank accounts of at least four people after gaining access to their bank cards. — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, "Fake ride-share driver cleans out bank accounts of victims in Loop, River North, authorities say," 4 Aug. 2019 The show — a sarcastic noir masquerading as a high school drama — featured a nuanced, complicated woman, who didn’t care if people liked her, before that could describe most female characters on screen. — Rebecca Smith, refinery29.com, "Veronica Mars Goes To Hulu & Grows The F*ck Up," 15 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'masquerade.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.