How to Use as if in a Sentence

as if

conjunction
  • The result blends in as if it's always been a part of the home.
    Elena Donovan Mauer, Country Living, 28 July 2023
  • But acting as if those ways are to be hushed is the way of the old world.
    Danyel Smith, Essence, 16 Oct. 2024
  • The dusty Ohtani trudged to the dugout as if marching through a nightmare.
    Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2024
  • For men, life in the 2020s feels as if the world suddenly turned on them.
    Bymohamed El Aassar, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2023
  • Death Skull stared at Doug as if seeing him for the first time.
    Simon Rich, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024
  • Stafford looks as if he’s been playing with them for years.
    Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2023
  • The video will show a pit with boots and hands that stick out of the dirt, as if intending to crawl out.
    Maggie Levantovskaya, Longreads, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The same kind of as if they were all just built on one piece of silicon.
    Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 20 Mar. 2024
  • As fresh, amusing, and full of beds as if the scene were laid on Long Island.
    The New Yorker, 7 Feb. 2025
  • Tree limbs whispered in the night wind as if urging them on.
    Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 10 Nov. 2024
  • The new sign is flimsy-looking and crooked, as if it had been hit with a strong wind.
    The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024
  • Instead, questions are framed as if the adults are lost.
    Deanne Revel, Southern Living, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Her life would be stopped up, as if a blood clot had blocked the passage of blood from her heart to her body.
    Tessa Hadley, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
  • Bush Hager carries son Hal, who holds his nose as if there were a smell.
    Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 29 Nov. 2023
  • And as if that weren’t enough, for good measure there are Russians.
    Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
  • Chair pose: Squat as if sitting in a chair with a block between thighs.
    Amy Kwan, Verywell Health, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Jumping from coupling to coupling as if that’s the object of the game.
    Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2023
  • My teacher wheeled the TV out of the room and began our math lesson as if all was fine.
    Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 7 Mar. 2024
  • Stones, scattered across one length of lane as if thrown by a giant.
    Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2023
  • Within, the bridges are shaped like angular shards, and the wheels are formed as if a blast wave has hit them.
    Elizabeth Doerr, Robb Report, 10 Jan. 2024
  • There’s an awkward pause, in which the tour guide surveys the room, as if in search of evidence to the contrary.
    Clare Sestanovich, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023
  • For the rest of the year, Afghans are kept out of sight, quietly abandoned to their fate, as if nothing can be done.
    Binaifer Nowrojee, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
  • But to teach his son a lesson, Usher acted as if the teen wasn't allowed to go at first.
    Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY, 25 Apr. 2024
  • Her mother jumped back, as if the SUV would suddenly run her over.
    Nnedi Okorafor, WIRED, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Intifada comes from the Arabic root meaning to shake off, as if dust from a cloth.
    Adrian Florido, NPR, 1 June 2024
  • Light falls largely on cheekbones and brows, as if Auerbach were gauging the best access to the brain.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
  • Exhale through your lips, with them positioned as if they were pursed around a straw.
    Michael Menna, Verywell Health, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Their mother, Bridget Hughes, was found dead in the bedroom down the hall, her body pressed against the door as if to keep the shooter out.
    Paige Pfleger, ProPublica, 3 Nov. 2023
  • Video footage shows Roth taking out his phone and holding it as if recording.
    Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Four minutes later, the car was seen driving past again a little slower, almost as if the driver was searching for something.
    Doc Louallen, ABC News, 7 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'as if.' 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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