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make-believe

33 3.2
Play in which people pretend and imagine stories and roles
  • noun
  • /ˈmeɪk bɪˈliːv/
translation icon : juego de imaginación
  • 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

  • Growing up in London, he made make believe computers out of cardboard boxes.

  • Our games of make-believe are at an end

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

pretense
vsmake-believe
  • US
12 6.0

A type of play in which people imagine and act out stories

is narrower, focusing on children's imaginative play rather than broader intellectual acts
pretend
vsmake-believe
11 3.6

Play when people imagine things that are not real

is mainly children's playful acting rather than general unreal activity

Antonyms

1.4

The way things really are, not how we imagine or wish

53 2.7

A calm and honest way of speaking or acting that shows you mean what you say

How Imaginary

fantasy
112 3.8
make-believe
33 3.2
reality
1.4

Surface Forms

make-believe singular
make-believes plural

Morphology

make-believe = make + believe (transparent) = make + believe

Meaning ('pretending' or causing someone to accept something as real) is directly derived from the obvious combination of 'make' + 'believe'.

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.