Word.ws English Dictionary

pretend

Syllables: pre·tend/pɹəˈtɛnd/

pretend verb: to speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.

pretend: to speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance
Image: F. H. Townsend, 1868-1920, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb

pretend (third-person singular simple present pretends, present participle pretending, simple past and past participle pretended)

  1. (intransitive) To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
    • You don't have to pretend that the soup tastes fine.
    • You don't have to pretend to like the soup.
    Synonyms:
    make like
    1. (intransitive) To engage in make-believe.
      • She moved her fingers across the desk, pretending to play the piano.
      • She didn't have a real piano to play, so she just pretended.
    2. (intransitive, transitive) To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.).
      • She's pretending illness to get out of the business meeting.
      • He pretended an air of indifference that he'd never assumed before.
  2. (formal, intransitive) To lay claim (to an ability, status, advantage, etc.).
    • The family's exile was intended to stop them pretending to the throne.
    • Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.1682, John Dryden, The Medal
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
    • Lest that too heavenly form, pretended / To hellish falsehood, snare them.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To intend; to design, to plot; to attempt.
    • Such as shall pretend / Malicious practices against his state.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. (obsolete, transitive) To hold before one; to extend.
    • Pastorella […] Was by the Captaine all this while defended, / Who, minding more her safety then himselfe, / His target alwayes over her pretended[…].1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
    • But had thoſe vvits the vvonders of their dayes, / Or that ſvveete Teian Poet [Anacreon] vvhich did ſpend / His plenteous vaine in ſetting forth her [Venus's] prayſe, / Seene but a glims of this, vvhich I pretend, / Hovv vvondrouſly vvould he her face commend, […]1596, Edm[und] Spenser, “An Hymne of Heavenly Beautie”, in Fowre Hymnes, London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 43

Adjective

pretend (not comparable)

  1. Not really what it is represented as being; imaginary, feigned.
    • As children we used to go on "spying" missions around the neighbour's house, but it was all pretend.
    Synonyms:
    mimic

Noun

pretend (uncountable)

  1. (childish, informal) The act of engaging in pretend play.
    • We used to dress up in our grandparents' old clothes and play pretend.

pretend meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

pretend in Hindi

1. (intransitive or with 'that' clause or 'to' infinitive) To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
ढोंग ḍhoṅg

pretend in Tamil

1.2. (transitive) To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.).
நடி naṭi

pretend in Urdu

بننا, ڈھونگ کرنا, نخرے دکھانا, سوانگ بھرنا

pretend in Bengali

ভান করা, ছদ্মবেশ ধারণ করা
More languagesFewer languages
pretend in Telugu
తక్కు takku
pretend in Malayalam
നടിക്കുക naṭikkuka
pretend in Kannada
ನಟಿಸು, ಸೋಗುಹಾಕು, ತೋರ್ಪಡಿಸಿಕೊ, ವೇಷತಾಳು
pretend in Tagalog
magkunwari
pretend in Arabic
اِدَّعَى iddaʕā, زَعَمَ zaʕama, تَظَاهَرَ taẓāhara
pretend in Malay
berlagak, berpura-pura
pretend in Indonesian
berpura-pura
pretend in Vietnamese
giả vờ

Examples of pretend in a sentence

  • If you don't like it, say so. You don't have to pretend.
  • To get into the club, he pretended to be over 18.
  • "After what past at Upton, so soon to engage in a new amour with another woman, while I fancied, and you pretended, your heart was bleeding for me!"1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 23, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew]...
  • Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
  • But I love you / More than I wanted to / There's no point in trying to pretend1983 October 31, Genesis, “That's All”, in Genesis:
  • You pretend you're high / Pretend you're bored / Pretend you're anything / Just to be adored1996, “Stupid Girl”, performed by Garbage:

All 40 example sentences with pretend

Synonyms of pretend

Forms of pretend

third-person singular presentpretends
present participlepretending
past participlepretended
pastpretended

Past tense of pretend: pretended

Origin of pretend

From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.

Words formed from pretend

Phrases with pretend

Words that rhyme with pretend

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pretend

What does pretend mean?
Pretend means to speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
What is pretend in Hindi?
Pretend in Hindi is ढोंग (ḍhoṅg). See Pretend meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pretend in a sentence?
If you don't like it, say so. You don't have to pretend.
What part of speech is pretend?
Pretend can be a verb, an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce pretend?
Pretend is pronounced /pɹəˈtɛnd/.
What is the past tense of pretend?
The past tense of pretend is pretended.

Words near pretend in the dictionary

  1. pretelsons
  2. pretemporal
  3. pretence
  4. pretenceless
  5. pretences
  6. pretend
  7. pretendant
  8. pretendants
  9. pretended
  10. pretendedly
  11. pretendence

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pretend (page history and authors); pretend (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Pretend (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); తక్కు (Telugu) (page history and authors); നടിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); pretend (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pretend.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pretend.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pretend. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.