pretend

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. sham, feign, dissemble, simulate; counterfeit, lie, fake; claim, aver. See falsehood.

II

(Roget's IV) v.

1. [To feign]

Syn. feign, affect, simulate, claim falsely, profess, make a pretense, imitate, assume, counterfeit, fake, sham, make as if, make as though, dissimulate, dissemble, mislead, pass oneself off, pose, impersonate, bluff, be hypocritical, purport, allege, make a show of, put on airs, put on*, let on*, make like*, go through the motions*, sail under false colors*, keep up appearances*, put up a front*, put on an act*, play possum*; see also deceive .

2. [To make believe]

Syn. mimic, fill a role, take a part, represent, portray, make out like, play, make as if, make as though, make believe, create, imagine, invent, act the part of, act a part, playact, put on an act*; see also sense 1, act 3 , imitate 2 , impersonate , reproduce 2 .

Syn.- pretend and feign both imply a profession or display of what is false, the more literary feign sometimes suggesting an elaborately contrived situation [ to pretend not to hear, to feign deafness ] ; assume implies the putting on of a false appearance but suggests a harmless or excusable motive [ an assumed air of bravado ] ; to affect is to make a show of being, having, using, wearing, etc., usually for effect [ to affect a British accent ] ; simulate emphasizes the imitation of typical signs involved in assuming an appearance or characteristic not one's own [ to simulate interest ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) v.

1. make believe play act, imagine, put on, suppose.

2. feign fake, bluff, simulate, *put on, dissemble, fool, deceive, act, sham, counterfeit, affect.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I verb 1. To take on or give a false appearance of: affect2, assume, counterfeit, fake, feign, put on, sham, simulate. Idiom: make believe. See TRUE. 2. To behave affectedly or insincerely or take on a false or misleading appearance of: act, counterfeit, dissemble, fake, feign, play-act, pose, put on, sham, simulate. See HONEST, TRUE. 3. To claim or allege insincerely or falsely: feign, profess. See TRUE. 4. To contrive and present as genuine: counterfeit, fake, feign, simulate. Idioms: make believe, put on an act. See TRUE. 5. To have the courage to put forward, as an idea, especially when rebuff or criticism is likely: dare, hazard, presume, venture. See TRY. II adjective Informal Made to imitate something else: artificial, imitation, manmade, mock, simulated, synthetic. See REAL.