as in hypocritical
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1
as in posing
to take on a false or deceptive appearance
I pretended that I didn't care that my ex had a new man in her life
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in simulating
to present a false appearance of
as if I would ever pretend illness just to take off a day from work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretending
Harry De Cosemo, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 6 Jan. 2026
How naïve must Trump be to believe that Putin cares about Ukraine’s well-being after invading it, killing thousands of its people, kidnapping tens of thousands of Ukrainian children back to Russia, and continuing to bomb civilian apartment buildings while pretending to negotiate a peace deal?
—Tom Zirpoli, Baltimore Sun, 6 Jan. 2026
Radke alleged, in a series of Instagram Stories posts, that the comedian was catfished by someone pretending to be him and Lee threatened him over the situation.
—Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 6 Jan. 2026
Sylvain had taken the woman to a Chase Bank branch on three separate occasions in November 2025 and withdrew a total of $1,718 while pretending to be the woman’s granddaughter, the affidavit said.
—Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 2 Jan. 2026
With a full roster in hand, the group will call employees directly, pretending to be a new hire with innocuous-seeming questions about platforms, cloud access, and other tech infrastructure.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 1 Jan. 2026
Its fractured, scattered form, grasping for structure instead of pretending to master it, is an attempt to build a future that will include both author and reader.
—Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 1 Jan. 2026
That is, people pretending to be Neil Diamond are all over the Bay Area.
—Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
At one point, a joke was played on Mae pretending that her ring was lost.
—Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
There can be no more pretending, briefing or hiding.
—Verb
Parents reported that their children loved playing with the original Nékojita FuFu, pretending to fan their faces and blow-dry their hair.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretending
Adjective
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His fall played as tabloid morality tale, at once confirming secular suspicion about hypocritical Christians and Christian suspicions about the temptations of secular trappings.—
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And now, with several countries withdrawing from global governance, Jin thinks those lecturing China on being responsible are being hypocritical.—
Verb
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In the report, Patrick Schröder, a senior fellow at Chatham House, warned that rare-earth mining often involves the use of toxic chemicals to separate minerals from rock, posing serious risks to Greenland’s fragile Arctic ecosystem.—
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The Actor Awards nominee wore a vibrant yellow dress and cradled her belly while posing.—
Verb
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In recent years Beijing has ramped up its military intimidation of Taiwan, including by simulating blockades.—
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Since stem cell models represent a disease’s early stages, simulating development is trickier and more time-consuming.—
Adjective
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As a hero, Mauser is appealing; abrasive, cocky, and duplicitous but nonetheless charming, authentic, and intrepid.—
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In the new installment, Elphaba (Erivo) tries to protect Oz’s besieged animal population from the duplicitous Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).—
Verb
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The teen was playing basketball at the park when he was approached by a group of young adults, who asked the teen if he was affiliated with a gang and tried to start a fight, police said.—
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Guys were playing hard, everybody on that drive was doing their job, and getting guys down on the ground.—
Verb
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In estimating that online sales would result in overall annual profits of about $30-90 million, the Legislative Services Agency is assuming there would be an accompanying decrease in retail lottery sales.—
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Launching a military operation and then assuming responsibility for governance shifts Washington toward a closed, coercive model of power – one that relies on force to establish authority and is prohibitively costly to sustain over time.—
Adjective
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One wrong look or insincere angle and the conversation can go sideways.—
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The man whom Navarro likes to call the Boss seems to value insincere, or bought, obeisance—the flapping and fussing of a maître d’—more than heartfelt fandom, which lacks the piquancy of humiliation.—
Verb
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Culkin was just four years old when his acting career began.—
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In 2026, Elordi snagged two acting nominations at the Golden Globes, including Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in Frankenstein.—
Cite this Entry
“Pretending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretending. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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