1
as in mock
lacking in natural or spontaneous quality
he shows a pretended affection for his girlfriend's cat
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fake
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express
hoped that his pretended interest in classical music would impress the boss
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in posed
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
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2
as in assumed
to present a false appearance of
as if I would ever pretend illness just to take off a day from work
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretended
Helen Shaw, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2022
What most activates Dunn’s rage is the misogyny that only deepened amid all the pretended freedoms of the counterculture.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
No, seriously: People were very upset by these shoes, or at least pretended to be.
—Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 31 Aug. 2017
Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Vance is expected to call out Walz, like Harris, as someone who has pretended to be a moderate while leading one of the most liberal states in the country.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2024
Adjective
The woman is long gone, so Freer has to imagine her consent — in a history so full of gaps, coercion, and disappearance, a pretended connection is better than none at all.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2022
What most activates Dunn’s rage is the misogyny that only deepened amid all the pretended freedoms of the counterculture.
—Sam Sacks, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
No, seriously: People were very upset by these shoes, or at least pretended to be.
—Heather Wilhelm, National Review, 31 Aug. 2017
Verb
The woman then pretended to hang herself with an electrical cord, just as Englyn eventually did.
—Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
Vance is expected to call out Walz, like Harris, as someone who has pretended to be a moderate while leading one of the most liberal states in the country.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretended
Adjective
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Wear rubber gloves and clip a mangled licking branch (which holds the forehead and saliva scent of several bucks and does) from atop an active scrape and wire it over a mock scrape near your stand.Michael Hanback, Outdoor Life, 7 Nov. 2024
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Miller recently pitched a mock trade that would send Crochet to Philadelphia.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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What’s more, the proliferation of artificial intelligence tools has raised concerns that fake images, video or audio could be used in an effort to lend legitimacy to election rumors and false claims.Clare Duffy, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024
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The show uses every trick in the book from fake snow (actually soap suds) raining down on the audience to towering puppets walking in, and acrobats swinging down with a huge arc of water spray fanning out from their feet behind them.Caroline Reid, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Verb
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Ariel Henry, the deeply unpopular prime minister at the time, assumed the role of president and failed to hold elections.Jay Blackman, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
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Molly Cook, the Texas Senate’s first out LGBTQ member, who assumed office in May, won her election to continue serving as well.Sarah Prager, NBC News, 8 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The lifelong New Yorker explained his decision to pack up for Florida in a 2019 post on the social platform X, citing taxes and his strained relationships with state and local leaders.Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2024
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In addition, there will need to be some serious operational improvements to remedy the company’s strained relationship with many current and former customers.Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 2 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Should East have pulled his partner’s second double to five clubs?Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
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After a fourth-down stop by Northwood’s defense, Keith capitalized on excellent field position by lofting a 12-yard TD to Brennan, who beat double coverage.Dan Albano, Orange County Register, 9 Nov. 2024
Verb
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After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal.Kelly Lambert, Discover Magazine, 14 Nov. 2024
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But Harris has remained mum about the fact that DOI has not acted on the IRA requirement, keeping its leasing program in de facto suspension since.David Blackmon, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Verb
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To answer this question, the scientists simulated iron-rich volcanic activity in the lab and concluded that rare earth elements were indeed present in the magma.Devika Rao, theweek, 1 Oct. 2024
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In 1981, at the height of the Cold War arms race, Soviet exercises simulated an invasion of Germany and nuclear strikes against the West.Emily Ferris, Foreign Affairs, 4 Oct. 2017
Adjective
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Bear in mind that his campaign was replete with false claims — about immigration, jobs, inflation, crime and more.Paul Krugman, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
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Oz is the Penguin now — like everyone in Batman’s Rogues Gallery, a caricature of his own trauma, drawn to criminal means of false liberation.Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near pretended
Cite this Entry
“Pretended.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretended. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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