make-believe
33
3.2
- noun
- /ˈmeɪk bɪˈliːv/
- Still, after school she practiced the three in front of a mirror, talking to her make-believe audience.
- play make-believe
- game of make-believe
- children play make-believe
Examples
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Growing up in London, he made make believe computers out of cardboard boxes.
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Our games of make-believe are at an end
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Remember, though, it's just make-believe, like the rest of your life.
Fiction book (2000) -
Far away, in another corner of the world... dragons were only make-believe.
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For example, during make-believe play, children write down a grocery list just as they have seen adults do.
Academic text (2008) -
"Smart enough to know that I am not afraid of make-believe ghosts," said Mole happily.
Fiction book (2000) -
Sometimes it's good to curl up with a make-believe monster, rather than the one outside your door.
Academic text (2010) -
Now, here we are, the old dressing up basket, our old treasure chest of make-believe.
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Dagiwa and Handabe were engaged in make-believe play involving the cooking and dissection of a pig.
Academic text (1995) -
Children often enjoy the exciting world of make-believe during playtime.
Synonyms
12
6.0
A type of play in which people imagine and act out stories
11
3.6
Play when people imagine things that are not real
Antonyms
How Imaginary
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Make-believe comes from the two simple words make 'create' and believe 'accept as real', so it is like 'making something people will believe'. That's why make-believe is the name for the pretend play or imaginary world children create.