as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
zoomed around the house in a make-believe car
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fiction
Related Words
make believe
3 of 3phrase
as in pretend
to present a false appearance of
He made believe he was sick to get out of going to school.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of make-believe
Erik Adams, The Atlantic, 10 May 2026
Kids just call it make-believe.
—Mac Barnett, Longreads, 5 May 2026
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Feb. 2026
Now, a new study suggests that such make-believe play is not a uniquely human talent, but a skill that great apes also possess.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
Adjective
But just as much of its humor came from portraying displays of everyday decency as the stuff of Hollywood make-believe, on par with the cinematic catharsis of a high-stakes Damon vehicle.
—Erik Adams, The Atlantic, 10 May 2026
Kids just call it make-believe.
—Mac Barnett, Longreads, 5 May 2026
Noun
Park Güell is an almost make-believe landscape, home to Barcelona’s famous mosaic lizard—the image on a thousand postcards—plus spiral towers that look like fairground slides.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Feb. 2026
Now, a new study suggests that such make-believe play is not a uniquely human talent, but a skill that great apes also possess.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for make-believe
Adjective
-
Other ideas involve arts and crafts projects, or playing imaginary games with her 8-year-old sister.—
Rhitu Chatterjee,
NPR,
19 June 2026
-
The Vision Award pays tribute to someone whose creative work has contributed to the renewal of the cinematographic imaginary.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Understanding an absent father through fiction.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 June 2026
-
Zevin’s novel has been named one of the 100 best books of the 21st century by the New York Times and one of the best fiction books of the last 30 years by the Los Angeles Times.—
Angelique Jackson,
Variety,
18 June 2026
Adjective
-
The mural that wraps around the room depicts the colorful life of the bar’s namesake, Arabella Huntington, the second wife of railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington, and the cocktails in the drinks menu are playfully written as fictional entries in Arabella’s diary.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
19 June 2026
-
In the show, the fictional version of Harrelson goes to stay at McConaughey's ranch in Austin, but things spiral out of control after McConaughey's mom, played by Holland Taylor, lets their possible familial connection slip.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Their simulations showed that Earth’s orbit could expand enough to remain beyond the sun’s maximum size during both the red giant and AGB phases.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
20 June 2026
-
Training data for robots is slow, physical, and expensive, often requiring human teleoperation or imperfect simulations that struggle with real-world messiness.—
Robert J. Szczerba,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
In 1811, The Nottingham Review newspaper recorded what's believed to be the first historical mention of the fictitious Ludd character, described as a framework knitting apprentice near Leicester.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
19 June 2026
-
Chen, who is currently being held on $100,000 bail in the Clark County Detention Center, has been charged with five felony counts of bigamy and two counts of intent to utter a fictitious bill/note/check, per FOX5.—
Desiree Anello,
PEOPLE,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
The robot is built on the open-source LeRobot platform and uses imitation learning to improve its grasping capabilities.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
16 June 2026
-
The films have spawned endless imitations, parodies and spinoffs, such as this week’s Verizon commercial featuring Myers and co-stars Seth Green, Mindy Sterling and Rob Lowe.—
Tom Tapp,
Deadline,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
The businesses that will win with AI aren’t waiting for a mythical moment when the technology handles everything.—
Tomas Gorny,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
-
So, why does the 18-year-old, who wears that mythical number for Barcelona — most closely associated with their all-time record scorer and appearance maker Messi — not have the same privilege with La Roja?—
Pol Ballús,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
Now, the one-year grace period for the act’s mandatory registration requirements has ended, meaning agencies must be registered as model management companies or groups with the New York Department of Labor (NYDL) to better enable models to discern legitimate representation.—
Madeleine Schulz,
Vogue,
19 June 2026
-
Mbiya has friends and representation living in France.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
19 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-believe. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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