as in imaginary
not real and existing only in the imagination
zoomed around the house in a make-believe car
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in fiction
Synonyms & Similar 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
Kimberly Stoney, Parents, 19 Mar. 2025
Fake Wedding follows two broke singles who throw a fake wedding to cash in on the registry and the very real problems the make-believe couple encounters.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2025
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
As a bonus, this reusable fake is a fun prop to keep around for make-believe health care provider visits.
—Kimberly Stoney, Parents, 19 Mar. 2025
Fake Wedding follows two broke singles who throw a fake wedding to cash in on the registry and the very real problems the make-believe couple encounters.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for make-believe
Adjective
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Draw an imaginary line from the magnitude 2.3 star Merak, which forms the outer base of the 'bowl', through Dubhe, the star positioned as the 'pouring tip' of the asterism.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
20 May 2025
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The mastermind behind covert action, Frank Wisner, never paused to consider that his cure for defeating an imaginary worldwide communist conspiracy was worse than the disease.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
15 May 2025
Noun
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In this fiction, the Crusades were not waged against Moors, but against elves – a race said to devour the flesh of humans, among other atrocities that are neither confirmed nor denied by the end of the story.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2025
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And the contemporary women’s fiction category, where Reid is often listed, ended 2024 with a nearly 30% increase in sales over 2019 numbers, according to analyst Kristen McLean.—
Lucy Feldman,
Time,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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The Scheme To carry out the fraud scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators created fictitious employers and lists of alleged employees—those lists were generated using personally identifiable information (PII) gleaned from thousands of identity theft victims.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
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The girl is in the Brazilian capital, but the headset transports her to a fictitious Indigenous village in the Atlantic rainforest, where capybaras and jaguars dart across the landscape.—
Constance Malleret,
Christian Science Monitor,
20 May 2025
Noun
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The toolchain also provides diverse sensor simulation data enhanced with hyper-realistic variations generated by NVIDIA Omniverse and Cosmos.—
Richard Bishop,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
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The five-minute simulation is modeled on the Guarani Kaiowá territory in Mato Grosso do Sul, near the border with Paraguay.—
Constance Malleret,
Christian Science Monitor,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Ready to swap the real-world drama for a fictional web of secrets and lies?—
Andrea Bartz,
People.com,
18 May 2025
-
It’s set in the (fictional) city of Eddington, NM, where the local sheriff, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joe Cross, tools around town responding to minor crises like noise complaints.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
17 May 2025
Noun
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At Vauxhall Gardens in London, for example, Frederick Prince of Wales built the structures in imitation of designs from the grounds of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
24 May 2025
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One memorable performance involved an artist who danced topless around the structural column, in imitation of an erotic dance.—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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The green obsidian was also thought to have a symbolic connection to Tollan, a mythical city where the god Quetzalcoatl lived, which was believed to be the ancestral origin of Mexico’s civilizations.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
16 May 2025
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Helios, the Greek god of the sun, and Luna, the mythical goddess of the moon, stand guard at either end of Celestial Park.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 May 2025
Noun
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The author makes no representation and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information contained in this article.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
17 May 2025
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The Newhouse family will continue as shareholders in the combined entity and have board representation.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
16 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-believe. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
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