as if

conjunction

1

: as it would be if

It was as if he had lost his last friend.

2

: as one would do if

He ran as if ghosts were chasing him.

3

: that

It seemed as if the day would never end.

4

—used to say that something is not true, not possible, will not happen, etc.

"I am sure I am very affectionate," said Dora; "you oughtn't to be cruel to me, Doady!" "Cruel, my precious love! As if I would—or could—be cruel to you, for the world!"

—Charles Dickens

—sometimes used informally as an interjection to say that something suggested or claimed is impossible, incorrect, or ridiculously unlikely to be true

A simple collection of songs? As if. How about a conceptual ode to London's millennia-old history?

—Craig McLean

Big budgets? High-priced actresses? As if! The film cost a modest $13 million, a figure achieved by not casting stars, but rather stars-in-the-making …

—Nicholas Fonseca

Synonyms

• as
• as though
• like

Examples of as if in a Sentence

she looked as if she wanted to ask one more question before we left

Recent Examples on the Web

Crushes often emerge of their own volition, as if out of nowhere, or some unseen force, and land on the recipient like an unforeseen weather event. —Daisy Jones, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2024

The sensory details of the film, set in 1950, are presented in the trailer as if being discovered and experienced for the first time. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2024

Back then, many journalists acted as if the prospect of a second Trump term was a national emergency, necessitating unrelenting negative coverage of the incumbent. —Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024

The heavier hybrid components clearly stress the suspension, almost as if Mercedes decided to use the exact same components without compensating for the additional mass of a larger battery pack and electric motor. —Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

as if

conjunction

1

: the way it would be if

it was as if we had never left

2

: the way one would do if

they acted as if they'd never heard of us

3

: that entry 2 sense 1a

it seemed as if the day would never end