masquerade

noun

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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

Other Words from masquerade Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about masquerade

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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 Plasticos will hold its annual fundraising masquerade ball Sept. 14 at the Balboa Bay Resort, 1221 W. Coast Hwy. — Priscella Vega, Daily Pilot, "After 100 medical trips abroad, Huntington Beach plastic surgeon still strives to be a ‘catalyst for change’," 30 Aug. 2019 Unlike every other Caribbean Carnival, Canadian laws prohibit masquerade bands from serving alcohol at Caribana Grande Parade. — Anquanette Gaspard, Essence, "Tell Dem We Reach! A First-Timer’s Guide to Caribana, Toronto's Caribbean Carnival," 24 July 2019 Microsoft has historically been able to gain control of phishing domains such as these by claiming trademark violations when the domains masquerade as the firm’s websites. — Robert Mcmillan, WSJ, "Russian Hackers Target Conservative Groups in Widening Cyberattacks," 21 Aug. 2018 The most sizzling revelations concerned Stella’s masquerade as Lady Stella Pelham-Clinton, wife of Tory MP Lord Arthur Pelham-Clinton. — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, "See RuPaul, Bianca Del Rio, more in exclusive excerpts from Drag: The Complete Story book," 16 Sep. 2019 In 2019, the democratic nature of online creation masquerades as democracy itself. — BostonGlobe.com, "What happens when politics is pushed into a pop culture box - The Boston Globe," 13 Sep. 2019 In 2019, the democratic nature of online creation masquerades as democracy itself. — Amanda Hess, New York Times, "United We Stan," 11 Sep. 2019 Black hair dye and Jude’s old eyeglasses further the risky masquerade. — Clea Simon, BostonGlobe.com, "In ‘Marilou Is Everywhere,’ finding yourself means becoming someone else," 1 Aug. 2019 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 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Hofstetter and her colleagues dodged foam batons masquerading as knives, blocked punches from colleagues holding boxing pads and maneuvered out of headlocks. — oregonlive, "Portland-area paramedics learning self-defense to cope with new threat: the public," 13 Sep. 2019 Look for misspellings and extra letters, as well as numbers masquerading as letters. — Vint Cerf, Quartz, "“Father of the internet” Vint Cerf says we need to be less naive if we’re going to fix it," 6 Sep. 2019 For parents of the 3.6 million American teens who vape, that innocent-looking little doohickey masquerading as a memory stick may very well turn out to be a Juul. — Marisa Cohen, Good Housekeeping, "What Is Juuling? Everything to Know About the Popular Vaping Trend," 4 Sep. 2019 Some of the accounts suspended by Twitter masqueraded as news websites, including Dream News and @HKpolitcalnew, according to Twitter, which posted details of the accounts and the tweets. — Los Angeles Times, "We tried to contact China users blocked by Twitter and Facebook. Here’s who wrote back," 22 Aug. 2019 You were kidnapped by men masquerading as FAES and now the real deal are here to take them down. — Annika Hernroth-rothstein, National Review, "I Was Kidnapped in Venezuela," 7 June 2019 Gene Kelly stars opposite Garland as Serafin, a traveling player who masquerades as Macoco to try to win her hand after learning of Manuela’s fantasy. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "8 essential Judy Garland movies that aren't The Wizard of Oz," 23 Aug. 2019 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

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.