1
as in posing
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 & Similar Words
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2
as in simulating
to present a false appearance of
as if I would ever pretend illness just to take off a day from work
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in hypocritical
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretending
Harry De Cosemo, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Scrolling on one’s phone can be a deadening experience, but here’s someone feeling, or at least pretending to feel, a genuine feeling—even if the abundance of these videos surely numbs us further.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
Forshaw is not pretending to have a comprehensive answer to the question above.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Kris, 69, then appeared in the video, pretending to scream as her grandchildren sprayed her with even more Silly String.
—Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 14 Sep. 2025
The difference between stoking a civil war and pretending to stoke one is ultimately immaterial.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 12 Sep. 2025
Kelley susses out that Göring is pretending not to understand or speak English, and for a couple of scenes that gives the shrink a leg up.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025
The real fraud is pretending this sector can withstand blow after blow.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
That’s a nice surprise for those of us who are tired of pretending that rocking chairs and flickering flashlights were ever scary — but a brutal slap in the face for anyone still taking these con-artist ghost busters seriously.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
There can be no more pretending, briefing or hiding.
—Harry De Cosemo, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
These issues are very real and generally speaking there are very few, if any, magic combinations of settings to cure these problems for many players, and pretending like that’s true is either disingenuous or misinformed.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Scrolling on one’s phone can be a deadening experience, but here’s someone feeling, or at least pretending to feel, a genuine feeling—even if the abundance of these videos surely numbs us further.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
Forshaw is not pretending to have a comprehensive answer to the question above.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Kris, 69, then appeared in the video, pretending to scream as her grandchildren sprayed her with even more Silly String.
—Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 14 Sep. 2025
The difference between stoking a civil war and pretending to stoke one is ultimately immaterial.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 12 Sep. 2025
Kelley susses out that Göring is pretending not to understand or speak English, and for a couple of scenes that gives the shrink a leg up.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025
The real fraud is pretending this sector can withstand blow after blow.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025
That’s a nice surprise for those of us who are tired of pretending that rocking chairs and flickering flashlights were ever scary — but a brutal slap in the face for anyone still taking these con-artist ghost busters seriously.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 7 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretending
Verb
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One particularly notable viral video featured the son of a provincial government minister posing in front of a tree made from boxes of luxury labels including Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Gucci.—
Nir Kshetri,
The Conversation,
14 Sep. 2025
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Social media posts from his family show years of him shooting and posing with various weapons at gun ranges and shows alongside his siblings.—
Richard Hall,
Time,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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By simulating Earth with a global climate model, and feeding it a bewildering variety of data, the team brought snapshots of these ancient planets to life in some 85 slices of geological, paleontological history.—
Peter Brannen,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
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Today’s use cases are limited, with most work concentrated on simulating chemistry and physics.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Delegates and party leaders described it as a corrupt and hypocritical maneuver from the governor.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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Meghan McCain, the conservative commentator and daughter of late Senator John McCain, faced immediate backlash after mocking Greta Thunberg's appearance, comparing the Swedish climate activist to Shrek villain Lord Farquaad in a post critics slammed as hypocritical.—
Emma Marsden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Rookie Anthony Belton, playing right tackle for an injured Zach Tom, had a holding penalty that negated a 39-yard touchdown to Jayden Reed.—
Rob Reischel,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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But there is something to getting in a room and all playing music together, which is what that record was born from.—
Isabela Raygoza,
Billboard,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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At the current high multiple, that translates to about $6–7 billion in profits, or roughly $16 billion in revenue, assuming a 40% net margin—a target consistent with long-term projections.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Allen has to find a way to beat Patrick Mahomes or, more to the point, the Bills have to find a way to beat the Chiefs — assuming Kansas City recovers from its 0-2 start.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Yet pop culture continues to fixate on these single women, with horror movies in particular framing them as duplicitous and unstable—threats to the public good.—
Beatrice Loayza,
The Atlantic,
13 Aug. 2025
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Unfortunately, my mom was irresponsible and even duplicitous about money many times over the years.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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With more than 100,000 copies sold from her four EP releases between 2022 and 2024, Chaeyeon took on acting this summer as one of the lead roles in the web series Fresh Romance.—
Jeff Benjamin,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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The resulting unrolled network consists of multiple stages, each acting like a mini-network that mimics one iteration of optimization.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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But Oz’s move back to Pennsylvania not long before running for Senate came across as insincere.—
Kimberly Ross,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
-
For one, Vitale writes that the sort of direct-to-camera monologues that have become the toast of Bourdainposting were, in Bourdain’s eyes, corny and insincere.—
Tres Dean,
Vulture,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretending. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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