Pretend definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

View all »
Definitions (28)

American Heritage Dictionary (8)

transitive verb To give a false appearance of; feign: "You had to pretend conformity while privately pursuing high and dangerous nonconformism” (Anthony Burgess).
transitive verb To claim or allege insincerely or falsely; profess: doesn't pretend to be an expert.
transitive verb To represent fictitiously in play; make believe: pretended they were on a cruise.

5 more from this dictionary »

Century Dictionary (10)

To hold out before one or in front; stretch forward; hence, to put before one for action, consideration, or acceptance; offer; present. But Pastorella. wofull wretched Elfe, Was by the Captaine all this while defended, Who, minding more her safety than himselfe, His target alwayes over her pretended. Spenser, F. Q., VI. xi. 19. All stood with their pretended spears prepar'd, With broad steel heads the brandish'd weapons glar'd. Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Meleager and Atalanta, l. 104. I had not thought (courteous reader) to have pretended thus conspicuously in thy sight this rude and indigested chaos of conceites, the abortive issue of my vnfertile braine. Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.),p. 110. To that wench I pretend honest love, and she deserves it. Middleton and Rowley, Changeling, iv. 2. From these Mahometan Sanctuaries, our Guide pretended to carry us to a Christian Church, about two furlongs out of Town on the South side. Maundrell, Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 15.
To put forward as a statement or an assertion; especially, to allege or declare falsely or with intent to deceive. I examined every thing without any one to accompany me but my own servant, which they pretended was very dangerous. Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 110. Then I pretended to be a musician; marry, I could not shew mine instrument, and that bred a discord. B. Jonson, Love Restored. In the vicinity of what was called the Lady Dudley's chamber, the domestics pretended to hear groans and screams, and other supernatural noises. Scott, Kenil worth, xli. His eulogists, unhappily, could not pretend that his morals had escaped untainted from the wide-spread contagion of that age. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi.
To put forward as a reason or excuse; use as a pretext; allege as a ground or reason; hence, to put forward a false appearance of; simulate; counterfeit; feign. The queen, sir, very oft importuned me To temper poisons for her, still pretending The satisfaction of her knowledge only In killing creatures vile, as cats and dogs. Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 250. Generally to pretend Conscience against Law is dangerous. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 39. Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them ! Milton, P. L., x. 872. This let him know, Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal. Milton, P. L., v. 244. No knave but boldly will pretend The requisites that form a friend. Cowper, Friendship, st. 3.

7 more from this dictionary »

View all »
Examples (50)

Sen. John Kerry cannot pretend, as he did in a recent — The Corner
The standard thing to do is pay no heed to anyone who tries to stop you -- pretend you don't understand English. — Planet TW
I'm considering going back to being a woman; this time as a pretend-straight one as I've always wanted to be a housewife. — Sadly, No!
He will be forced to call a pretend horse race, make sure no one ever wins the oversize plush pandas and learn about life and love in a way his canceled European vacation never would have allowed. — post-gazette.com - News
It is utterly misleading and dishonest to pretend -- as so many now do -- that the sum total of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a confrontation over what expired Palestinian Authority President and Israeli puppet Mahmoud Abbas himself referred to as "silly rockets." — RESPECT - THE UNITY COALITION (The Respect Supporters Blog)

More examples »

Add a related word »
Related

Used in the Same Context

semiprofessional · then-the · etherial · neededcredit · fisher-boy · dark-robed · masturbatory · skin-crawling · erogenous · half-defined · sitz · red-skinned

Word Family

pretend: pretended · pretending · pretends

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English pretenden, from Old French pretendre, from Latin praetendere : prae-, pre- + tendere, to extend; see ten- in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (1)

from Middle English pretenden, from Old French pretendre, French prétendre = Spanish Portuguese pretender = Italian pretendere, from Latin prætendere, stretch forth or forward, spread before, hold out, put forward as an excuse, allege, pretend, from præ, before, + tendere, stretch: see tend.

pretend

View all »
Definitions (28)

American Heritage Dictionary (8)

Century Dictionary (10)

GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

WordNet (8)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context

Word Family

Etymologies (2)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Century Dictionary (1)

Pronunciations
Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

pretend

View all » Definitions (28)

View all » Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word » Related

synonyms:

antonym:

synonyms:

Etymologies (2)

Pronunciations Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

View all »
Definitions (28)

View all »
Examples (50)

stop updating
On Twitter

Add a related word »
Related

Pronunciations
Record your own »