Synonyms of make-believe

make-believe 1 of 3

adjective

as in imaginary

not real and existing only in the imagination

zoomed around the house in a make-believe car

Synonyms & Similar Words

• imaginary
• fictional
• fictitious
• mythical
• imagined
• fantasied
• imaginal
• ideal
• invented
• unreal
• phantom
• fanciful
• chimerical
• pretend
• phantasmal
• notional
• made-up
• theoretical
• phantasmic
• fantastic
• visionary
• romantic
• legendary
• hypothetical
• fabulous
• unlikely
• fabled
• abstract
• illusory
• unconvincing
• unbelievable
• fictive
• envisioned
• deceptive
• hallucinatory
• delusive
• phantasmagoric
• delusional
• visualized
• conceived
• nonexistent
• envisaged
• concocted
• pictured
• feigned
• fabricated
• daydreamlike
• inexistent

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• real
• actual
• true
• existing
• genuine
• authentic
• existent
• factual
• realistic
• physical
• convincing
• believable
• verifiable
• substantial
• solid
• corporeal
• tangible
• material
• palpable
• verified

make-believe

2 of 3

noun

as in fiction

Related Words

• fiction
• simulation
• imitation
• representation
• pretense
• affectation
• demonstration
• display
• pose
• likeness
• image
• imposture
• resemblance
• masquerade
• surface
• implication
• suggestion
• veneer
• mask
• exterior
• insinuation
• hint
• cloak
• disguise
• front
• facade
• shell
• effect
• shape
• gloss
• impression
• air
• Potemkin village
• seeming
• patina
• semblance
• appearance
• name
• show
• guise
• outward
• face

make believe

3 of 3

phrase

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

• pretend
• assume
• simulate
• pass (for)
• put on
• affect
• act
• sham
• bluff
• counterfeit
• fake
• profess
• pose
• let on
• feign
• forge
• conceal
• dissemble
• play
• masquerade
• imitate
• mask
• camouflage
• disguise
• dissimulate
• playact
• impersonate
• feint
• malinger

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of make-believe

Adjective

Tesshi Nakagawa’s scenic design is like a toy kingdom that induces the audience into a state of make-believe. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026

But just as much of its humor came from portraying displays of everyday decency as the stuff of Hollywood make-believe, on par with the cinematic catharsis of a high-stakes Damon vehicle. — Erik Adams, The Atlantic, 10 May 2026

Noun

Beginning in 1999, when the girls are just nine, Sanguinetti captures their childhood games of make-believe slowly giving way to the weight of adulthood – work, family, motherhood and diverging paths. — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 16 July 2026

The rhapsodies about Willow, paired with the silence surrounding the difficult dogs, contribute to a sense of make-believe and avoidance that pervade Biden’s memoir. — Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 9 June 2026

Phrase

So in this case, let’s make believe in some timeline that didn’t happen and my wife got a manicure that day. — Joel Feder, The Drive, 29 July 2026