Thesaurus article: to act as if something is true when it is not

to act as if something is true when it is not

These words all describe behaving as if something is true when you know it is not.

A common word for this is pretend. Pretend is used when you are behaving like something is true as part of a game, or in order to deceive someone.

She pretended not to know about the surprise.

There's no need to pretend - we all know you dye your hair.

Let's pretend that you're a superhero and I'm a princess!

Make believe is similar to pretend, but it is more commonly used when talking with children, or to say that someone is acting like something that is important is not.

He's just going to make believe that things are fine in spite of the divorce.

Let's make believe that we're both astronauts!

When you are pretending to be someone or something as part of a game, you can say you are playing at something. If you are pretending to be someone or something for a particular reason, for example in order to learn something, you can say you are role-playing. Play at something is used in UK English.

UK The children are playing at cops and robbers.

During class, we role-played being a customer and a salesperson to learn words related to shopping.

You can use fake to talk about pretending that you are feeling a certain way. Fake is also used to talk about pretending that you are ill when you are not.

She's only faking being ill.

He's not happy - he's just faking.

I'm not excited about the party, but I'll fake it.

Feign is a more formal way of saying that you are pretending to have a particular problem or feeling. You can also use affect in very formal language to say you are pretending to feel or think something.

The police questioned him about the break-in, but he feigned ignorance.

It is difficult to tell when students are feigning illness and when they are not.

His friends only affected interest in his problems.

If someone or something purports to do or be something, they are pretending to be that thing, but in a way that is not easy to believe. Purport is used in formal language.

The legislation purports to protect employees, but trade unions have claimed the law would to the opposite.

In formal language, you can use dissimulate or dissemble when you are pretending that you do not feel a certain way, or are trying to hide facts from others in order to keep them from finding out something negative.

The government appears to be dissimulating regarding their intentions behind drone strikes.

The prince demanded to know if she loved him, but she shyly dissembled.

If you pretend that you are happy or that things are going well in order to hide from others how difficult things really are, you are keeping up appearances.

They've just lost their house, but they're still keeping up apperances for their relatives.

When you are pretending to be someone that you aren't, especially in order to deceive others and get something from them, you can say you are posing as that person, or you are impersonating them.

She was posing as a member of the aristrocracy in order to steal money from the rich.

He was an FBI agent posing as an extremist to gather intelligence.

The suspect was charged with impersonating a police officer.

Someone is impersonating me online!