make believe

See also: makebelieve and make-believe

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

make believe (third-person singular simple present makes believe, present participle making believe, simple past and past participle made believe)

1. (idiomatic, childish) To pretend or imagine.

   Let's build a fort out of chairs and blankets and make believe we are pirates.

   • 1927, Oscar Hammerstein II, Show Boat:

     Only make believe I love you, / Only make believe that you love me. / Others find peace of mind in pretending, / Couldn’t you? / Couldn’t I? / Couldn’t we? / Make believe our lips are blending / In a phantom kiss, or two, or three. / Might as well make believe I love you, / For to tell the truth I do.

Translations

to pretend

• Bulgarian: преструвам се (prestruvam se)
• Catalan: fer veure
• German: so tun, als ob (de)
• Kabuverdianu: finji
• Maori: whakangaio, whakatakune
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: late som, late som om

• Portuguese: fazer de conta (pt)
• Spanish: hacer de cuenta

Noun

make believe (countable and uncountable, plural make believes)

1. Alternative form of make-believe

Adjective

make believe (comparative more make believe, superlative most make believe)

1. imaginary; conjured in someone's imagination, especially when imagined by a child