How to Use pretend in a Sentence

pretend

1 of 2 verb
  • He pretended to make a phone call.
  • The children pretended to be asleep.
  • It was a mistake, and to pretend otherwise would be foolish.
  • She looked like she was enjoying the party but she was just pretending.
  • The children were pretending to be animals.
  • He had a big stain on his shirt, but I pretended not to notice.
  • Let's just pretend for a moment. I'm your boss. What would you say to me?
  • Please don’t pretend that isn’t great.
    — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Don’t pretend the cure for coarse speech is a swear jar.
    — Eric Preven, Oc Register, 19 Sep. 2025
  • By age 2, most kids know how to play pretend.
    — Adithi Ramakrishnan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2026
  • Elon Musk is a fan of movies, or pretends to be.
    — Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2025
  • No one wants to pretend to do their jobs anymore.
    — Emily Kapp, New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The answer is not to pretend you are thrilled.
    — Dr. Cynthia J. Young, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
  • Let’s all take a moment here to pretend to be shocked.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2025
  • The goal is not to push through or pretend treatment is easy.
    — Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 15 June 2026
  • None of us can pretend to know what the next year (or ten years) will look like.
    — Bill Connolly, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Pierson pretends not to hear it.
    — Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Herr doesn’t pretend to be detached.
    — Literary Hub, 19 Dec. 2025
  • To pretend that any of it is fully resolved is false.
    — Literary Hub, 19 May 2026
  • What will our influencers stand in line to pretend to eat?
    — Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Moïse told jurors she was shot first, then pretended to be dead.
    — Tania Francois, CBS News, 12 Mar. 2026
  • The gang cannot even pretend Amanda doesn’t know what’s what.
    — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026
  • At least one fan even pretended to kiss the trophy through the glass.
    — Peter Warren, Houston Chronicle, 4 May 2026
  • Some claimed someone else was pretending to be him.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 5 Mar. 2026
  • At one point, a joke was played on Mae pretending that her ring was lost.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Pig’s blood There’s no pretending that pig’s blood is hot.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026
  • We’re done pretending that’s courage.
    — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
  • We’re done pretending that’s courage.
    — Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2025
  • This, in no way, means pretending the fight didn’t happen.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
  • Some want to pretend like everything is fine.
    — Amy Amatangelo, Parents, 1 June 2026

pretend

2 of 2 adjective
  • The children played on a pretend train.
  • Gen doesn’t give her even a pretend smile.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 23 June 2026
  • That is the game, that all these things are fake, this is all pretend.
    — The New Yorker, 29 May 2022
  • My right arm locked up over pretend mogul number one.
    — Marisa McMillan, Outside, 27 Feb. 2026
  • In a movie version, the third-act reveal might be that your spouse, too, has a pretend job.
    — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Using small fire hoses, children spray water on a fake fire to knock down pretend flames.
    — John Benson, cleveland, 7 Aug. 2023
  • In a world so full of real horrors, the pretend ones offer escape and catharsis.
    — Usa Today Staff, USA TODAY, 27 Sep. 2021
  • Wooden cars and a train with working wheels are also provided to be able to get around their pretend city.
    — Ysolt Usigan, Woman's Day, 18 Aug. 2022
  • Why not put pretend stethoscopes and pill bottles into the boxes and sell them as toy doctor’s kits?
    — Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
  • From a pretend cruise at sea to music video-style pool parties, this isn't your average seniors' home.
    — Zulekha Nathoo, USA TODAY, 15 July 2022
  • Previous crafts included a pretend play pie, a pine cone turkey and a winter snow globe.
    — Carol Kovach, cleveland, 9 Dec. 2020
  • Another uses a play food container from a child’s pretend kitchen.
    — Rebecca Flint Marx, SELF, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Round out their pretend cooking space with a wooden cutting food set or realistic play foods.
    — Katrina Cossey, Parents, 1 Oct. 2025
  • After watching bakers twist dough in the classic shape, kids can try their hands at it using a pretend dough mixture.
    — Karen Cicero, Good Housekeeping, 20 Apr. 2022
  • Those studies used a pretend tea party to see if kids could track an imaginary object, like a cup of pretend juice.
    — Nathan Rott, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Inside the playhouse is a pretend kitchen that comes complete with a cordless phone, two pans, and a spatula.
    — Ashley Ziegler, Parents, 16 Oct. 2023
  • On this pretend trip-to-nowhere, maybe the 49ers could pick up a few healthy bodies to complete the fantasy.
    — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 11 Oct. 2020
  • Having such big feelings about the pretend baseball team strikes me as exhausting, among other things.
    — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 6 May 2026
  • This is a pretty standard pick and roll, with a pretend screen from Rudy Gay at the beginning.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Dec. 2022
  • The affection feels real, even if everything else is pretend.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 14 May 2026
  • King Arthur goes questing on a pretend horse, followed by his lackey clacking coconut shells.
    — Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2021
  • Gather up toy shopping carts and cash registers, and let the kids turn the pantry, fridge and kitchen into a pretend grocery store.
    — Amy Schwabe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 26 May 2021
  • The owners bribed people with HIV to serve as pretend patients.
    — Jessica Wapner, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Everyone assumed that people would have some fun playing around with a pretend currency for a year or two and then move on.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2018
  • The lagoon is indoors, edged with shells, rocks, little pools, palm trees and even its own pretend beach, set in a vaulted room three stories high.
    — Judy Rose, Detroit Free Press, 15 Aug. 2021
  • Behind him, other protesters played a game, trying to catch and shoot each other with a pretend vaccine.
    — New York Times, 4 Nov. 2021
  • Nick and Norah meet by chance at a club when Norah asks Nick to be her pretend boyfriend for five minutes.
    — Leah Campano, Seventeen, 14 Dec. 2022
  • Complications ensue and, hidden by a big veil, Ziva steps in as the pretend bride to keep the trap alive.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
  • He could also be seen lying in a ball pit with his younger brother Barry and driving through a pretend car wash in a green toy car.
    — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 25 Dec. 2025
  • Milo passes through the tollbooth in his small pretend car and finds himself in the Lands Beyond.
    — Emily Langer, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretend.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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