pretend
pronunciation
How to pronounce pretend in British English:
UK [prɪˈtend]
How to pronounce pretend in American English:
US [prɪˈtend]
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- Noun:
- the enactment of a pretense
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- Verb:
- make believe with the intent to deceive
- behave unnaturally or affectedly
- put forward a claim and assert right or possession of
- put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation
- represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like
- state insincerely
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- Adjective:
- imagined as in a play
Word Origin
- pretend
- pretend: [14] To pretend something is etymologically to ‘hold it out’ – as an excuse, or as something it is not. The word comes from Latin praetendere, a compound verb formed from the prefix prae- ‘before’ and tendere ‘stretch’ (source of English tend, tense, etc).=> extend, tend, tense
- pretend (v.)
- late 14c., "to profess, assert, maintain" (a claim, etc.), "to direct (one's) efforts," from Old French pretendre "to lay claim," from Latin praetendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege," from prae "before" (see pre-) + tendere "to stretch," from PIE root *ten- "to stretch" (see tend). Main modern sense of "feign, put forward a false claim" is recorded from c. 1400; the older sense of simply "to claim" is behind the string of royal pretenders (1690s) in English history. Meaning "to play, make believe" is recorded from 1865. In 17c. pretend also could mean "make a suit of marriage for," from a sense in French. Related: Pretended; pretending.
- pretend (n.)
- "fact of pretending," 1888, from children's talk, from pretend (v.). Earlier in same sense was verbal noun pretending (1640s).
Example
- 1. Than to pretend you understand and answer very vaguely .
- 2. Rule 4 : don 't pretend nothing has changed .
- 3. Anyone can pretend to be anything .
- 4. But italians are less pious than they pretend .
- 5. The german and australian governments pretend to be green .