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
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
Bartle replied that the two Kansas Cities were really one big city, separated only by an imaginary state line.—
Elijah Winkler,
Kansas City Star,
29 Mar. 2026
-
In the Williams-Paisley household, even an imaginary man can cause a marital kerfuffle.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
My colleagues in European public broadcasting, in other countries — whether smaller countries that can’t afford to support their national production at the same level as ours, or countries as big as ours but facing the same budget constraints — are already diving into American fiction.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
-
On the final day of the festival, The Observer is hosting an event with debut novelists the paper considers to be rising stars of fiction.—
Irenie Forshaw,
TheWeek,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Clavicular is like a blend of Dorian Gray and Patrick Bateman, those fictional creations of gay authors out to probe the sinister side of male vanity.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The prologue that opens Ragtime loudly announces the musical’s epic ambitions as its nine fictional characters and six of its historical figures introduce themselves with third-person narration and shout-singing.—
Manuel Mendoza,
Dallas Morning News,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Using computer simulations to model the breakup in detail, Jiao's team found that Saturn's tidal forces would have preferentially stripped away the moon's icy mantle while leaving much of its rocky core intact.—
Sharmila Kuthunur,
Space.com,
27 Mar. 2026
-
These insights will help researchers develop simulation models and machine learning systems to refine robot behavior.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Rogen, who in the show plays fictitious studio head Matt Remick, briefly attended the festival in September to do research.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick examined the extent to which jealous imitation drives all manner of same-sex relations, straight and gay.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Choose pure vanilla extract (not imitation vanilla) for superior flavor.—
Robin Miller,
AZCentral.com,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Sierra Canyon finished the season 30-1 and is in the conversation for a mythical national championship.—
Tarek Fattal,
Daily News,
26 Mar. 2026
-
But Arirang can be frustrating as a collection of sometimes aspirationally simplistic literary concepts from a group with a catalogue of songs brandishing mythic notions and philosophical concepts (sometimes hilariously).—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Currently, Roadmap is averaging two writers signing with representation each week.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2026
-
For instance, some surveillance cameras can transmit digital representations of faces along with the video stream, so even if the images are grainy, computer systems can still identify the people in them.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Make-believe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/make-believe. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
