To act as if something is true when it is not, often for fun or imagination. It can also mean to claim something that is not really the case.
From Latin *praetendere* meaning 'to stretch forth' or 'put forward', through Old French *pretendre*. It shifted from 'putting something forward' to 'putting forward a false claim'.
Children use 'pretend' to build worlds; adults use it to hide in them. The word doesn’t judge—pretending can be playful or deceptive depending on why you’re doing it. Every story, game, and role-play is a controlled kind of pretending.
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