English Explanatory Dictionary

pretend

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
  2. To engage in make-believe.
  3. To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.).
  4. To lay claim (to an ability, status, advantage, etc.).
  5. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
  6. To intend; to design, to plot; to attempt.
  7. To hold before one; to extend.
adj
  1. Not really what it is represented as being; imaginary, feigned.
noun
  1. The act of engaging in pretend play.

Pronunciation

/pɹəˈtɛnd/ /pɹiˈtɛnd/ /pɹɪˈtɛnd/ en-us-pretend.ogg

Word forms

pretend pretends pretending pretended

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend-der. Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin praetendōbor. Anglo-Norman pretendreder. English pretend From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.

Synonyms

make like mimic

Related words

pretender pretense pretension pretentious pretentiousness

Derived words

outpretend pretended pretendedly Pretendian pretendingly pretendingness Pretendolino unpretended unpretending make pretend

Translations

Afrikaans: voorgee Arabic: تَظَاهَرَ Bulgarian: престру́вам се Bulgarian: симули́рам Catalan: fer veure Dutch: doen alsof Esperanto: komedii Finnish: teeskennellä Finnish: olla tekevinään French: feindre French: faire semblant German: so tun, als ob Hindi: ढोंग Icelandic: þykjast Irish: lig ar Italian: fare finta Italian: fingere Kabuverdianu: finji Māori: whakatakune Māori: whakataruna Māori: whakangaio Spanish: aparentar Spanish: hacer de Spanish: hacer como que Tagalog: magkunwari
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