Associations to the word «Pretend»

Wiktionary

PRETEND, verb. To claim, allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception. [from 14th c.]
PRETEND, verb. To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.). [from 15th c.]
PRETEND, verb. To lay claim to (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). [from 15th c.] (originally used without to)
PRETEND, verb. To make oneself appear to do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe.
PRETEND, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
PRETEND, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt.
PRETEND, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) To hold before one; to extend.

Dictionary definition

PRETEND, noun. The enactment of a pretense; "it was just pretend".
PRETEND, verb. Make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache".
PRETEND, verb. Behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting".
PRETEND, verb. Put forward a claim and assert right or possession of; "pretend the title of King".
PRETEND, verb. Put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong".
PRETEND, verb. Represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like; "She makes like an actress".
PRETEND, verb. State insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine".
PRETEND, adjective. Imagined as in a play; "the make-believe world of theater"; "play money"; "dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish".

Wise words

The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.
Hippocrates