pseudo

adjective

pseu·​do ˈsü-(ˌ)dō How to pronounce pseudo (audio)
: being apparently rather than actually as stated : sham, spurious
distinction between true and pseudo humanismK. F. Reinhardt

Examples of pseudo in a Sentence

Here at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, you have your heads of state, your foreign ministers, your titans of business, your intellectuals (pseudo and real)—but you also have Sharon Stone, Angelina Jolie, and Richard Gere. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 28 Feb. 2005
Freemasonry, intensely popular in the eighteenth century, had inherited from earlier pseudo Egyptology a fascination with pyramids and hieroglyphs, but it defanged the occult into something harmless enough to go on the back of the great seal of the sunny-side-up American republic. Simon Schama, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2001
… whoever is deceived by the pseudo activity under Mussolini is deceived by the spasmotic last jerk of a corpse. F. Scott Fitzgerald, letter, 19 Apr. 1925
the pseudo friendliness of a salesperson trying to sell you something
Recent Examples on the Web This could certainly change if the Rockets land a certain French teenager in this year's draft lottery, but the first half of 2022-23 has assuaged some concerns about the long-term viability of a pseudo-twin-towers in the starting lineup with Jabari Smith flanked by Alperen Şengün. Michael Shapiro, Chron, 15 Jan. 2023 In a code division scheme, each call is encoded in a random or pseudo-random sequencing, and receivers at the other end are equipped to decode their own calls. IEEE Spectrum, 27 Apr. 2021 Many of the individual works are stellar, but the theme is so baggy as to be meaningless, and the wall labels have a rote, pseudo-academic quality. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2023 If the tree happened to be on ancestral indigenous land, someone invented racist, pseudo-indigenous fictions to lend the tree an aura of romance. Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2023 Snooping around the fancy Manodrome mansion — where other lost souls feel a sense of pseudo-familial support — Ralphie finds a gun in Dan’s desk drawer (likely stashed there by Chekhov). Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 Feb. 2023 Sure, Faith Family plays a pseudo-national schedule, with 11 of its first 26 games against out-of-state teams. Dallas News, 31 Jan. 2023 In the show, which is directed by Burnham, Berlant performs a pseudo-biographical monologue about her journey as an actor. Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2023 Democrats hate that Medicare Advantage has been available as a pseudo-private alternative to original Medicare’s single-payer arrangement. Casey B. Mulligan, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pseudo.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin pseudo-

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pseudo was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near pseudo

Cite this Entry

“Pseudo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pseudo. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pseudo

adjective
pseu·​do ˈsüd-ō How to pronounce pseudo (audio)
: not genuine : fake

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