1
as in mock
lacking in natural or spontaneous quality
he shows a pretended affection for his girlfriend's cat
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fake
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express
hoped that his pretended interest in classical music would impress the boss
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in posed
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
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2
as in assumed
to present a false appearance of
as if I would ever pretend illness just to take off a day from work
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretended
Helen Shaw, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2022
What most activates Dunn’s rage is the misogyny that only deepened amid all the pretended freedoms of the counterculture.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
No, seriously: People were very upset by these shoes, or at least pretended to be.
—Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 31 Aug. 2017
Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Vance is expected to call out Walz, like Harris, as someone who has pretended to be a moderate while leading one of the most liberal states in the country.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2024
Adjective
The woman is long gone, so Freer has to imagine her consent — in a history so full of gaps, coercion, and disappearance, a pretended connection is better than none at all.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2022
What most activates Dunn’s rage is the misogyny that only deepened amid all the pretended freedoms of the counterculture.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
No, seriously: People were very upset by these shoes, or at least pretended to be.
—Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 31 Aug. 2017
Verb
The woman then pretended to hang herself with an electrical cord, just as Englyn eventually did.
—Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Vance is expected to call out Walz, like Harris, as someone who has pretended to be a moderate while leading one of the most liberal states in the country.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretended
Adjective
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Our team spent four months building a minute-by-minute playbook, conducting two full-scale mock cutovers and stress-testing every critical system.Sidharth Ramsinghaney, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
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Experience mock classes led by prominent professors, explore diverse legal career paths, and receive personalized admissions guidance.Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 3 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The source of those flames: a Christmas celebration that climaxes with ten helicopters dropping fake snow on the partygoers, a stunt that turns out to be a bad idea because of strong winds and some not-up-to-code fire extinguishers.Keith Phipps, Vulture, 17 Nov. 2024
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After 1935, duck and goose hunters were limited to fake decoys.Alice Jones Webb, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Ariel Henry, the deeply unpopular prime minister at the time, assumed the role of president and failed to hold elections.Jay Blackman, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
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Molly Cook, the Texas Senate’s first out LGBTQ member, who assumed office in May, won her election to continue serving as well.Sarah Prager, NBC News, 8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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In the memoir, which came out on Nov. 19, White provided some insight about the strained relationship.Regina Cho, VIBE.com, 20 Nov. 2024
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Leighton Meester and Luke Cook star as sibling detectives who don’t always see eye-to-eye, working together to solve crimes – and the strained relationship with their police chief father (Clancy Brown).Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The album marked the musician’s first since his half of Outkast’s 2003 Grammy-winning double LP, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2024
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On Thursday, Maluma celebrated the release of the new single by driving a double decker bus around his hometown of Medellín, Colombia.Thania Garcia, Variety, 22 Nov. 2024
Verb
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After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal.Kelly Lambert, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2024
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In at least five of those cases, officers acted in ways that appeared to have violated local law enforcement policies as well as state and federal standards, according to a CBS News review of two decades' worth of documents obtained through court records and Freedom of Information Act requests.Sarah Metz, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2024
Verb
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To answer this question, the scientists simulated iron-rich volcanic activity in the lab and concluded that rare earth elements were indeed present in the magma.Devika Rao, theweek, 1 Oct. 2024
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In 1981, at the height of the Cold War arms race, Soviet exercises simulated an invasion of Germany and nuclear strikes against the West.Emily Ferris, Foreign Affairs, 4 Oct. 2017
Adjective
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He was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution and fined $25,000 for making false police reports.Megan Thomas, CNN, 22 Nov. 2024
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Editor's note: A previous version of this story said LU KALA was pregnant based on her false claim.Emma Aerin Becker, People.com, 22 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near pretended
Cite this Entry
“Pretended.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretended. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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