make-believe

1 of 2

noun

make-be·​lieve ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēv 

variants or less commonly make-belief

ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēf 

: a pretending that what is not real is real

a fiction writer's childish willingness to immerse himself in make-believe

—John Updike

make-believe

2 of 2

adjective

: imaginary, pretended

Synonyms

Adjective

• chimerical
• chimeric
• fabulous
• fanciful
• fantasied
• fantastic
• fantastical
• fictional
• fictitious
• ideal
• imaginal
• imaginary
• imagined
• invented
• made-up
• mythical
• mythic
• notional
• phantasmal
• phantasmic
• phantom
• pretend
• unreal
• visionary

Examples of make-believe in a Sentence

Adjective

zoomed around the house in a make-believe car

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Duo the Owl, Duolingo's make-believe mascot, is alive. —Greta Cross, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2025

With its whimsical and slyly subversive sense of humor, the show swiftly attracted an audience beyond its core demographic of preadolescent children, and Ms. Stewart and other members of its cast embraced its anarchic and surreal spirit of make-believe. —Sara Ruberg, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025

Adjective

Yet in the past, intimate scenes in theater, film and television were rarely treated with the same mindfulness as a make-believe duel. —Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 17 Mar. 2023

The internet provided a fertile new stage for my proclivity for make-believe. —Kira Homsher, Longreads, 14 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1794, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1806, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for make-believe

• achieve
• believe
• conceive
• deceive
• naive
• perceive
• receive
• relieve
• reprieve
• retrieve
• breve
• cleave

Kids Definition

make-believe

1 of 2 noun

make-be·​lieve

ˈmāk-bə-ˌlēv

: a pretending to be another person or character (as in the play of children)

make-believe

2 of 2 adjective

: imaginary

was only a make-believe lion