pretended
Americanadjective
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insincerely or falsely professed.
a pretended interest in art.
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feigned, fictitious, or counterfeit.
His pretended wealth was proved to be nonexistent.
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alleged or asserted; reputed.
Other Word Forms
- pretendedly adverb
- self-pretended adjective
- unpretended adjective
Etymology
Origin of pretended
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; pretend, -ed 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A bird fluttered down to a low branch and chirped as though he were saying something to Red, and I had the feeling she understood the bird, even though she pretended not to notice.
From Literature
To take his journey, Mr. Mian pretended to be not a journalist but a scholar writing a history of the Volga.
The really crazy thing is that anyone ever pretended you could.
And she’s a little nutty, she’d probably trust anyone who pretended to believe her crazy theories.
From Literature
She pretended that she was her hero, because he wouldn’t mind that his computer and suitcase had washed overboard and were at the bottom of the ocean.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
