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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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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
Faith Salie, CBS News, 7 Dec. 2025
That’s just completely make-believe.
—Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 4 Dec. 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
Jan Karon, the 88-year-old author behind Mitford, has written 15 books about the make-believe mountain village.
—Faith Salie, CBS News, 7 Dec. 2025
That’s just completely make-believe.
—Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for make-believe
Adjective
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Finally, the researchers did another version of the original test but used imaginary grapes instead of juice, with similar results.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Unfortunately, the new love in your life may be imaginary and only after your bank account.—
C. A. Bridges,
Florida Times-Union,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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For a generation raised on viral clips of air‑rage fights and customer‑service meltdowns, the quiet order of a Japanese train car—no loud phone calls, no overflowing trash—reads almost like aspirational fiction.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Ginger Strand Ginger Strand is an American author of nonfiction and fiction.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The best of all sports-movie subgenres, football films have given us great characters – real and fictional – and a bunch of awesome cinematic moments in everything from screwball comedies to real-life narratives.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
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The overall look has drawn comparisons to a fictional stealth aircraft rather than a conventional Navy jet.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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To pinpoint the silk’s secret, an interdisciplinary team used a high-tech toolkit that included AlphaFold3 modeling, molecular simulations, and NMR spectroscopy.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Feb. 2026
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Such detailed military simulation games often garner small but loyal followings, and rarely break into the wider gaming community.—
Archie Clarke,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Comulate also invented a fictitious insurance agent named Jordan Bates, who purported to work for PBC and who interacted with Applied Systems salespeople through email (with a Phoenix Benefits email domain) to create a customer account on Applied’s Epic.—
John Hyatt,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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In a comparable case in the United States in 2023, a federal judge imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm after ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Somewhere between folk art and statement home decor, this four-panel imitation of an impressionist oil painting says a thing or two about your knack for putting a room together.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
5 Feb. 2026
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But Baehren and Carvalho pointed out that these behaviors, which took place rarely and in captivity, might only be imitations of human communication.—
Shayla Love,
New Yorker,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Indeed, Orient Express is perhaps the most mythic name in the travel world.—
Adam Erace,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Feb. 2026
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What begins as paranormal record-keeping gradually reveals a mythic tale centered on people who, fittingly, were mostly writers.—
Shannon Taggart,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Could artificial intelligence help people who lack access to legal representation in Georgia’s rural counties?—
Shaddi Abusaid,
AJC.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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The main attraction, though, was on the stage as legends from the sports world talked about why representation matters to them.—
Andrea Nakano,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-believe. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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