as in shows
a display of emotion or behavior that is insincere or intended to deceive
although she was deeply bored, she maintained a masquerade of polite interest as her guest droned on
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Recent Examples of masquerades
Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
Burnout masquerades as ambition.
—Kelly Ehlers, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026
And humiliation masquerades as justice.
—Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026
The gala will conclude with rousing Cameroon and Nigerian masquerades by the Odenigbo Group.
—Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 14 Jan. 2026
Noun
Bias masquerades as opinion, with no guidance and no intent to help.
—Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
Burnout masquerades as ambition.
—Kelly Ehlers, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026
And humiliation masquerades as justice.
—Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 10 Feb. 2026
The gala will conclude with rousing Cameroon and Nigerian masquerades by the Odenigbo Group.
—Rachel Bernhard, jsonline.com, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for masquerades
Noun
-
Babies who don’t get the vitamin K shot, research shows, are 81 times more likely than those who do to develop late vitamin K deficiency bleeding, where in many cases oxygen can’t reach their brains and blood pools around their skulls.—
Lee Hutchinson,
ArsTechnica,
6 May 2026
-
The designer regularly curates new collections and fresh apparel and is widely known for her signature splits at the end of her runway shows.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
But there’s a difference between an outbreak that has scientific and public health importance and one that poses widespread risk to the population at large.—
Helen Branswell,
STAT,
7 May 2026
-
Tracy Arm, in fact, still poses a bit of a mystery despite the work done to recreate the event.—
Ella Nilsen,
CNN Money,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
These projects reveal the evil lurking underneath the guises of killers who were so often hiding in plain sight.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Apr. 2026
-
By the time my story about him was published in the November 2023 issue of Vanity Fair, Aryeh Dodelson, and all of his guises, had disappeared from the face of the earth.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
But only male pilots can apply—so Wooram goes full Twelfth Night and impersonates her twin brother Boram, with his blessing.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Like that video where Bryan Cranston impersonates Art Garfunkel at Central Park, and his bouffant gets bigger every time the camera cuts back.—
Mike Sutter,
San Antonio Express-News,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Historic preservation is often dismissed as nostalgia, the hobby of people who prefer old facades to modern needs.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
6 May 2026
-
But the school occupies its own campus, Schwarzman College, modeled on the individual venues at Harvard and Oxford, boasting their own historic facades, where students live and dine.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
Verb
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There's also Bright White, which pretends to be Acetate, and definitely has the texture of something that wants to be organic.—
Florence Ion,
PC Magazine,
1 May 2026
-
In one snap, the foursome laughs as Crown Prince Christian pretends to grab his younger brother's neck.—
Janine Henni,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
According to evidence presented at trial, Zhu and his associates imported cheap COVID-19 tests from China, then repackaged and resold them under false pretenses.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
6 May 2026
-
Maybe Thalia had come to Gilead under false pretenses and gotten caught.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
6 May 2026
Verb
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Alegría directed half of the show’s eight episodes; Urrejola plays the key character of Blanca.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
4 May 2026
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The addition of the guest play-callers, Close and women’s water polo coach Adam Wright, led to a variety of trick plays throughout the game.—
Sean Campbell,
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Masquerades.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/masquerades. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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