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Glite Dictionary
to pretend not to notice

to pretend not to notice

5 5.6
To act as if you do not see something to avoid making someone feel embarrassed
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : fingir no notar
  • Sasha was aware of my uneasiness but pretended not to notice.
  • pretended not to notice and walked
  • pretend not to notice or look

And the woman, the wife is pretending that she doesn't notice that the dudes pretending not to notice.

Examples

  • The man across from her saw her staring but kept looking away, pretending not to notice.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • During the awkward silence, I decided to pretend not to notice the tension in the room.

  • I pretend not to notice her.

    Marvin's Room (1996)

  • The other men, including her husband, would pretend not to notice.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Three men and a woman filed out of the house, pretending not to notice him.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • And because this is England. Everyone pretends not to notice.

    Orlando (1992)

  • I became aware of Randall watching me, though I pretended not to notice.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Jackson, Dusty, and Mike pretended not to notice it and escaped into busyness with their assorted tasks.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • She was upset about the messy kitchen, but opted to pretend not to notice and enjoy dinner.

  • Even when he stumbled over his words, I chose to pretend not to notice to avoid embarrassing him.

Synonyms

to ignore
vsto pretend not to notice
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

acts unaware primarily to avoid embarrassment or confrontation rather than merely not paying attention
to look the other way
vsto pretend not to notice
69 4.7

To ignore something wrong on purpose instead of reporting it

aims to avoid embarrassment or confrontation rather than to evade dealing with problems
to turn a blind eye
vsto pretend not to notice
41 5.4

Choose to ignore something wrong

is used when one avoids embarrassment or confrontation rather than specifically tolerating illegal acts
to let it slide
vsto pretend not to notice
  • Informal
38 5.9

To ignore a small mistake to avoid an argument

covers broader deliberate unawareness, not only small faults or mistakes
to play dumb
vsto pretend not to notice
  • Informal
34 6.7

Pretend not to know or understand something to avoid trouble

acts unaware to avoid embarrassment or confrontation rather than to claim not knowing
to wink at
vsto pretend not to notice
1 7.5

To pretend not to see something bad to show approval

focuses on avoiding embarrassment or confrontation rather than offering approval

Antonyms

to acknowledge
367 3.8

To admit that something is true or real

How Aware

to notice
∞ 1.0
to pretend not to notice
5 5.6
to ignore
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

pretend not to notice infinitive
pretended not to notice past
pretended not to notice past participle
pretending not to notice present participle
pretends not to notice third person singular

Morphology

pretend + not + to + notice

The meaning 'to deliberately act as if one is unaware' is transparently built from 'pretend' (act as if something false) combined with negation + 'notice' (become aware), so a learner who knows the words can derive the intended sense. The syntactic pattern 'pretend not to + verb' is a productive, cross-linguistic construction (e.g., 'fingir no ver', 'faire semblant de ne pas voir'), which makes the expression predictable for B1 learners.

Etymology

The phrase pretend not to notice gives the image of someone seeing something awkward and then looking away or acting busy so they pretend they did not notice it. So, it means 'to act as if you are unaware' to avoid embarrassment or trouble.