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
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
Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 13 Jan. 2026
Alongside her, child actors dance and frolic with shadow puppetry in the land of make-believe, where youths go on adventures and learn math, science and reading skills.
—Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
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
Noun
Alongside her, child actors dance and frolic with shadow puppetry in the land of make-believe, where youths go on adventures and learn math, science and reading skills.
—Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 13 Jan. 2026
Alongside her, child actors dance and frolic with shadow puppetry in the land of make-believe, where youths go on adventures and learn math, science and reading skills.
—Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for make-believe
Adjective
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Draw an imaginary line between the two and follow it out into space for roughly the same distance again.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
14 Mar. 2026
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What better way to cap our season-long coverage of a conference that doesn’t exist than to hand out imaginary awards?—
Jon Wilner,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning author of fiction.—
Lilliam Rivera,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
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While this may confine a human’s dream of immortality to solutions that rely on technological enhancements, bio-hacking your body, or science-fiction level technology that relies on novel physical laws and/or phenomena, there’s still plenty that relativity has to say about living forever.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The gambit that Shelley somehow comes to possess her fictional creation is sustained, as Ida alternates between a very American dialect and a more high-toned British accent.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
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The film has resulted in some confusion online given a documentary last year titled Age of Disclosure, which interviewed former government officials about UAPs, with some wondering if Spielberg’s fictional movie is part of some larger conspiratorial effort on the topic.—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Our simulations showed how and why changing the electrode potential achieves hydrogen production on TiO2.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Mar. 2026
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The North in previous years has conducted numerous salvo launches of missiles or artillery while describing them as simulations of nuclear attacks against targets in South Korea.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The cartoon’s title character’s appearance was based on the movie star Rita Hayworth, and surrounded by a varied cast of colorful co-workers to populate the fictitious Chicago newsroom where Brenda was employed.—
Philip Potempa,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Mar. 2026
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Philadelphia courts issued a fraud alert Saturday about fictitious text messages that appear to come from the city's traffic division.—
Terra Sullivan,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Three of them stayed together, but the fourth couldn’t resist Bergeron’s imitation of a hen turkey calling and branched off, coming within 20 yards of the blind.—
Steve Waters,
Miami Herald,
13 Mar. 2026
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Beautiful people are doing good-enough imitations of famous people.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Hill compared Chamberlain to a Paul Bunyon-type, a mythical figure in sports in large part because there's little video of his playing heyday.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 2026
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Celebrate all things Irish, rock out to four bands, watch a musical that intertwines two mythic tales, see a Baltimore cult classic at the Senator Theatre and listen to a soulful tribute to R&B legends.—
John Coffren,
Baltimore Sun,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Some creatives help non-actors with greater Hollywood ambitions find representation and give them counsel, while others don’t see that as their job.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Mar. 2026
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Even among White moviegoers, seven of the top 20 films included casts with more than 30% BIPOC representation.—
Arushi Jacob,
Variety,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-believe. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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