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adjective
1.
insincerely or falsely professed: a pretended interest in art.
2.
feigned, fictitious, or counterfeit: His pretended wealth was proved to be nonexistent.
3.
alleged or asserted; reputed.
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Pretended
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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, especially 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 followed by to): She pretended to the throne.
8.
9.
Obsolete. to aspire, as a suitor or candidate (followed by to).
adjective
10.
Informal. make-believe; simulated; counterfeit: pretend diamonds.
Origin:
1325–75; Middle English pretenden < Latin praetendere to stretch forth, put forward, pretend. See pre-, tend1
1325–75; Middle English pretenden < Latin praetendere to stretch forth, put forward, pretend. See pre-, tend1
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.
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. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To pretended
Etymonline
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
EXPANDclaim" 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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