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
Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 9 Feb. 2026
In a set of experiments, a team of researchers offered a bonobo named Kanzi invisible juice and grapes, presenting the tests as something of a game, akin to a child’s make-believe tea party.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 5 Feb. 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
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
In a set of experiments, a team of researchers offered a bonobo named Kanzi invisible juice and grapes, presenting the tests as something of a game, akin to a child’s make-believe tea party.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for make-believe
Recent Examples of Synonyms for make-believe
Adjective
-
And so the super, super devoted fans really do know each other and really are jockeying with each other for position in a way that feels both real and imaginary.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Apr. 2026
-
No borders and a thin blue line Viewing the Earth from space, White highlights, drives home that the borders that mark our maps are largely imaginary.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The film, which is Schlöndorff’s first fiction feature in close to a decade, will debut in the Cannes Premiere section.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
9 Apr. 2026
-
To make our lineup, The Times surveyed more than 200 authors, publishers, journalists and general book club enthusiasts to select the best book club reads in 10 categories, including romance, mystery, memoir and literary fiction.—
Brittany Levine Beckman,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, Pierce Brosnan — who played the fictional agent with a license to kill in four films in the '90s — is open-minded about reprising his role.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
10 Apr. 2026
-
In the episode, detectives Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) and Theo Walker (David Ajala) chase the shooters through the Brooklyn Museum, a stand-in for the show’s fictional Atlas Museum of Art.—
Leigh Anne Miller,
ARTnews.com,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
To investigate, the researchers combined spectroscopy experiments with simulations to track how energy flows through the material.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Apr. 2026
-
In order to measure AI’s tendency to give responses aligning with trends rather than logic, researchers tested seven models, including GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, across 15,000 simulations and scenarios.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Investigators allege Gonzalez wrote checks to herself from HOA accounts over an extended period and concealed the thefts by creating fictitious invoices and false ledger entries.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2026
-
One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Many imitation almond extracts or essences rely on synthetic benzaldehyde for flavor, which can create saccharine notes that overpower delicate desserts like custards, sponges, or pastry creams.—
Emily Saladino,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
9 Apr. 2026
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UniFlex enables efficient cross-scenario task generalization and imitation learning.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But the most important sighting of the mythical Stravinskian fowl might be the revival of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 1982 version, migrating back to New York for the first time in more than twenty years.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
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The poem tells the story of the seduction of a sixteen-year-old girl by the watermonster, a mythical figure, weaving together themes of place, identity, trauma, and transformation.—
Patrick Dundon,
JSTOR Daily,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The three sketches, which show an artist's representation of the suspects based on witness information, depict three different men.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Investor and strategic representation comes from Nikhil Bahel, managing partner at Elysian Park Ventures, and Thomas Tull, co-chairman of TWG Global.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-believe. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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