pretend

1 being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials if you were to see the movie's pretend jewels in real life, you wouldn't be fooled for a minute Synonyms artificial, bogus, dummy, ersatz, factitious, fake, false, faux, imitative, man-made, mimic, mock, imitation, sham, simulated, substitute, syntheticRelated Words cultured, manufactured, process; unauthentic; adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with); concocted, fabricated; counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony (also phoney); affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spuriousNear Antonyms authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true; premium, quality, valuable; pure, unadulteratedAntonyms genuine, natural, real

2 not real and existing only in the imagination it's just a pretend gun, so please pretend that I got you and play dead Synonyms chimerical (also chimeric), fabulous, fanciful, fantasied, fantastic (also fantastical), fictional, fictitious, ideal, imaginal, imagined, invented, made-up, make-believe, mythical (or mythic), notional, phantasmal, phantasmic, phantom, imaginary, unreal, visonaryRelated Words fabled, legendary, romantic; abstract, hypothetical, theoretical (also theoretic); unbelievable, unconvincing, unlikely; conceived, envisaged, envisioned, pictured, visualized; daydreamlike, deceptive, delusional, delusive, hallucinatory, illusory, phantasmagoric (or phantasmagorical); concocted, fabricated, feigned, fictive; inexistent, nonexistentNear Antonyms authentic, genuine, true; factual, verifiable, verified; believable, convincing, realistic; corporeal, material, physical, solid, substantial; palpable, tangibleAntonyms actual, existent, existing, real

1 to take on a false or deceptive appearance I pretended that I didn't care that my ex had a new man in her life Synonyms dissemble, dissimulate, let on, make out Related Words act, impersonate, masquerade, play, playact, pose; affect, assume, counterfeit, fake, feign, profess, put on, sham, simulate; camouflage, conceal, disguise, mask; bluff, feint Phrases make a pretense, make a show, make believe, put on an act, put up a front

2 to present a false appearance of as if I would ever pretend illness just to take off a day from work Synonyms act, affect, assume, bluff, counterfeit, dissemble, fake, pass (for), feign, profess, put on, sham, simulateRelated Words dissimulate, impersonate, let on, masquerade, play, playact, pose; forge, imitate; camouflage, conceal, disguise, mask; feint; malinger