pretending 1 of 2

adjective

as in hypocritical

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pretending

2 of 2

verb

present participle of pretend
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pretending
Adjective
There can be no more pretending, briefing or hiding. — Harry De Cosemo, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
Verb
Smart did not enter pleas to charges of being armed, or pretending to be armed, in a way that may cause fear and with making an unlawful threat. — ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026 Lee uses this to his advantage, pretending to be a pidgin-speaking Chinese immigrant to protect himself from white people’s suspicion and mistrust. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026 The Brewers have an exceptional amount of talent too, and Murphy's routine of pretending like his team is a bunch of humble farmers who were playing stickball out back a few days ago is absurd and offensive. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026 At the same time, the lawsuits contend that chatbots are pretending to be agreeable and compassionate while preying on the vulnerable and on teenagers, the first generation to grow up with artificial intelligence. — Marc Levy, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026 Below, members of Forbes Coaches Council share strategies to lead teams through change without pretending to have all the answers. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026 In a news release, police said that 25-year-old Baldwin Park resident Juan Carlos Amaya contacted the teenage girl via Snapchat and began talking to her while pretending to be 17 years old. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026 There’s an unmistakable impression throughout that this woman… or whatever is pretending to be one… might burn down the house. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026 In his appeal, Juszczyk also argued that fining players for pretending to drink beer was hypocritical given the NFL’s beer sponsorships. — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretending
  1. hypocritical
  2. posing
  3. simulating
  4. duplicitous
  5. playing
  6. assuming
  7. insincere
  8. acting
Adjective
  • The fine was controversial to begin with, as fans and pundits pointed out the NFL’s business with beer sponsors such as Bud Light and called the sensitivity over the celebration hypocritical.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Oct. 2026
  • In his appeal, Juszczyk also argued that fining players for pretending to drink beer was hypocritical given the NFL’s beer sponsorships.
    — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of hypocritical
Verb
  • Some, though, have been treated by law enforcement as posing a credible danger to Henderson’s life or safety.
    — Barton Gellman, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The whole joke is that Chandler is really bad at posing for photos.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of posing
Verb
  • Researchers estimated in 2017 that simulating the ground-state energy of FeMoco, an iron-sulfur cluster involved in biological nitrogen fixation, would require roughly 50 trillion Toffoli gates.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Simulating an investment banker’s work is fundamentally different from simulating a software engineer’s work, CEO Jerry Wu tells Fortune.
    — Wen Shao, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of simulating
Adjective
  • At least Mark Zuckerberg had the decency to be duplicitous, Altman is just openly consumed by the mania of trying to win the most important technological arms race since the atom bomb.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2026
  • In Bird and Goldmark’s account (these collaborators are also married), the nihilistic, amoral, duplicitous, power-seeking Roy Marcus Cohn makes Niccolò Machiavelli seem like a rank amateur.
    — Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of duplicitous
Verb
  • Antetokounmpo totaled 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds, one assist and one steal while playing only 11 minutes in Saturday’s first half.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026
  • The practice involves writing down your intrusive thoughts and fears, and even recording yourself talking about them, and playing that recording back to yourself.
    — Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Thinking that writing code was the only bottleneck for deploying new software is like the Titanic seeing the tip of the iceberg and assuming there was nothing underneath it.
    — Brian Jenney, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Catoir warns against assuming that digital natives will naturally be equipped to work with AI.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of assuming
Adjective
  • None of the warnings being made about these models by industry insiders are at all insincere.
    — Nilay Patel, The Verge, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Leigh feared the tracks might be too arch, too pretentious, too insincere.
    — Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of insincere
Verb
  • After Maduro was deposed, Venezuela's highest court said Rodríguez could serve as acting president for up to 90 days -- an interim appointment that could be extended by the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
  • And when Dad got to the University of Southern California and briefly tried his hand at acting in the 1930s, casting directors rechristened him Lee Byron.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of acting

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Cite this Entry

“Pretending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretending. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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