pretending
/prɪˈtɛndɪŋ/
noun
- The act of making believe or feigning; pretense.
- All this pretending is exhausting — let's just be honest.
- His pretending didn't fool anyone for long.
- There's too much pretending in this relationship; we need to talk openly.
verb
- To act as if something is true when it is not; to make believe.
- He's just pretending to be angry — he's actually laughing inside.
- The children are pretending the cardboard box is a spaceship.
- She was pretending to be asleep so she wouldn't have to do her chores.
- To claim or assert something falsely, especially in order to deceive.
- He pretended he had never seen the email, but we knew he had.
- She pretended to be an expert on the topic, but she had only read one article.
- Don't pretend you don't know the answer — you studied all night.