Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [pri-tend]
- /prɪˈtɛnd/
- /prɪˈtend/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [pri-tend]
- /prɪˈtɛnd/
Definitions of pretend word
- verb with object pretend to cause or attempt to cause (what is not so) to seem so: to pretend illness; to pretend that nothing is wrong. 1
- verb with object pretend to appear falsely, as to deceive; feign: to pretend to go to sleep. 1
- verb with object pretend to make believe: The children pretended to be cowboys. 1
- verb with object pretend to presume; venture: I can't pretend to say what went wrong. 1
- verb with object pretend to allege or profess, especially insincerely or falsely: He pretended to have no knowledge of her whereabouts. 1
- verb without object pretend to make believe. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of pretend
First appearance:
before 1325 One of the 16% oldest English words
1325-75; Middle English pretenden < Latin praetendere to stretch forth, put forward, pretend. See pre-, tend1
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Pretend
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
pretend popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 92% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
pretend usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for pretend
verb pretend
- act — When you act, you do something for a particular purpose.
- affect — If something affects a person or thing, it influences them or causes them to change in some way.
- altercate — to argue, esp heatedly; dispute
- antiqued — An antiqued object is modern but has been made to look like an antique.
- antiquing — of or belonging to the past; not modern.
adj pretend
- disguised — to change the appearance or guise of so as to conceal identity or mislead, as by means of deceptive garb: The king was disguised as a peasant.
- dummiest — a representation or copy of something, as for displaying to indicate appearance: a display of lipstick dummies made of colored plastic.
- fictional — invented as part of a work of fiction: Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective.
- fictive — fictitious; imaginary.
- imposturous — the action or practice of imposing fraudulently upon others.
noun pretend
adjective pretend
- artificial — Artificial objects, materials, or processes do not occur naturally and are created by human beings, for example using science or technology.
- dummy — a representation or copy of something, as for displaying to indicate appearance: a display of lipstick dummies made of colored plastic.
- fake — to lay (a rope) in a coil or series of long loops so as to allow to run freely without fouling or kinking (often followed by down).
- false — not true or correct; erroneous: a false statement.
- fantasy — imagination, especially when extravagant and unrestrained.
Antonyms for pretend
Top questions with pretend
- how to pretend to be sick?
- what does pretend mean?
- manipulative people who pretend to be nice?
- we are what we pretend to be?
- how to pretend you re sick?
- how to pretend to be happy?
- how do you spell pretend?
- how to make a pretend fire?
- why do we pretend to be happy?
- how to pretend you are sick?
- how to make pretend lipstick?
- how to pretend to be a dog?
- how to pretend to have a baby?
- how to pretend to have a stomach ache?
- when we pretend that we're dead?
See also
Matching words
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