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pretend

 - 3 dictionary results

pre⋅tend

  [pri-tend]
Use pretend in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to cause or attempt to cause (what is not so) to seem so: to pretend illness; to pretend that nothing is wrong.
2. to appear falsely, as to deceive; feign: to pretend to go to sleep.
3. to make believe: The children pretended to be cowboys.
4. to presume; venture: I can't pretend to say what went wrong.
5. to allege or profess, esp. insincerely or falsely: He pretended to have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
–verb (used without object)
6. to make believe.
7. to lay claim to (usually fol. by to): She pretended to the throne.
8. to make pretensions (usually fol. by to): He pretends to great knowledge.
9. Obsolete. to aspire, as a suitor or candidate (fol. by to).
–adjective
10. Informal. make-believe; simulated; counterfeit: pretend diamonds.
Origin:
1325–75; ME pretenden < L praetendere to stretch forth, put forward, pretend. See pre-, tend 1

Synonyms:
1. simulate, fake, sham, counterfeit. Pretend, affect, assume, feign imply an attempt to create a false appearance. To pretend is to create an imaginary characteristic or to play a part: to pretend sorrow. To affect is to make a consciously artificial show of having qualities that one thinks would look well and impress others: to affect shyness. To assume is to take on or put on a specific outward appearance, often (but not always) with intent to deceive: to assume an air of indifference. To feign implies using ingenuity in pretense, and some degree of imitation of appearance or characteristics: to feign surprise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pretend
pre·tend   (prĭ-těnd')   
v.   pre·tend·ed, pre·tend·ing, pre·tends

v.   tr.

  1. To give a false appearance of; feign: "You had to pretend conformity while privately pursuing high and dangerous nonconformism" (Anthony Burgess).

  2. To claim or allege insincerely or falsely; profess: doesn't pretend to be an expert.

  3. To represent fictitiously in play; make believe: pretended they were on a cruise.

  4. To take upon oneself; venture: I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong.

v.   intr.

  1. To feign an action or character, as in play.

  2. To put forward a claim.

  3. To make pretensions: pretends to gourmet tastes.

adj.   Informal
Imitation; make-believe: pretend money; pretend pearls.

[Middle English pretenden, from Old French pretendre, from Latin praetendere : prae-, pre- + tendere, to extend; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pretend 
c.1380, "to profess or claim," from O.Fr. pretendre "to lay claim," from L. prætendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege," from præ- "before" + tendere "to stretch," from PIE base *ten- "to stretch" (see tend). Main modern sense of "feign, put forward a false claim" is recorded from 1412; the older sense of simply "to claim" is behind the string of royal pretenders (1697) in Eng. history. Meaning "to play, make believe" is recorded from 1865.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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