Synonyms for pretend

verb

1. To feign

   feign, affect, simulate, claim falsely, profess, make a pretense, imitate, assume, counterfeit, fake, sham, make as if, make as though, dissimulate, dissemble, mislead, pass oneself off, pose, impersonate, bluff, be hypocritical, purport, allege, make a show of, put on airs, put on*, let on*, make like*, go through the motions*, sail under false colors*, keep up appearances*, put up a front*, put on an act*, play possum*; see also deceive.

2. To make believe

   mimic, fill a role, take a part, represent, portray, make out like, play, make as if, make as though, make believe, create, imagine, invent, act the part of, act a part, playact, put on an act*; see also sense 1, act 3, imitate 2, impersonate, reproduce 2.

pretend and feign both imply a profession or display of what is false, the more literary feign sometimes suggesting an elaborately contrived situation to pretend not to hear, to feign deafness; assume implies the putting on of a false appearance but suggests a harmless or excusable motive an assumed air of bravado; to affect is to make a show of being, having, using, wearing, etc., usually for effect to affect a British accent; simulate emphasizes the imitation of typical signs involved in assuming an appearance or characteristic not one's own to simulate interest