as if

conjunction

1

: as it would be if

It was as if he had lost his last friend.

2

: as one would do if

He ran as if ghosts were chasing him.

3

: that

It seemed as if the day would never end.

4

—used to say that something is not true, not possible, will not happen, etc.

"I am sure I am very affectionate," said Dora; "you oughtn't to be cruel to me, Doady!" "Cruel, my precious love! As if I would—or could—be cruel to you, for the world!"

—Charles Dickens

—sometimes used informally as an interjection to say that something suggested or claimed is impossible, incorrect, or ridiculously unlikely to be true

A simple collection of songs? As if. How about a conceptual ode to London's millennia-old history?

—Craig McLean

Big budgets? High-priced actresses? As if! The film cost a modest $13 million, a figure achieved by not casting stars, but rather stars-in-the-making …

—Nicholas Fonseca

Synonyms

• as
• as though
• like

Examples of as if in a Sentence

she looked as if she wanted to ask one more question before we left

Recent Examples on the Web

Photo : Joe Fletcher The dining area and kitchen appear as if hovering on the ocean. —Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 9 May 2024

The credit card issuer and the merchant, the online ticket powerhouse AXS, are treating the complaint as if Dewey wants a refund now, after changing her mind. —Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 9 May 2024

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum said the facility took precautions and treated the employee as if the foxes were rabid to being with. —Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 6 May 2024

Butterfly Effect is one of the genre’s strangest and most desolate visions, a 14-track collection of soundscapes and improvisations that seem to have been created almost accidentally, all of it coated in a layer of corrosion as if soaked in battery acid prior to release. —Daniel Bromfield, SPIN, 6 May 2024

Death Skull stared at Doug as if seeing him for the first time. —Simon Rich, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024

No masks can filter out ozone, so stay inside on high ozone days as if possible. —Journal Sentinel, 26 Apr. 2024

Because the government deems internet access an essential service, the FCC is promising oversight as if broadband were a public utility. —Emma Bowman, NPR, 26 Apr. 2024

In the street, she’s seen walking and talking (on the phone or in person) from far away, while the talk is heard as if from nearby, in intimate proximity. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

as if

conjunction

1

: the way it would be if

it was as if we had never left

2

: the way one would do if

they acted as if they'd never heard of us

3

: that entry 2 sense 1a

it seemed as if the day would never end