Definition of Make-believe

1. Noun. Imaginative intellectual play.

Exact synonyms: Pretence, Pretense
Generic synonyms: Imagery, Imagination, Imaging, Mental Imagery

2. Adjective. Imagined as in a play. "Dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish"
Exact synonyms: Pretend
Similar to: Unreal

3. Noun. The enactment of a pretense. "It was just pretend"
Exact synonyms: Pretend
Generic synonyms: Feigning, Pretence, Pretending, Pretense, Simulation
Derivative terms: Make Believe, Pretend

Definition of Make-believe

1. Noun. The quality or act of pretending; assuming something is true when in fact one knows it is not. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Make-believe

majusculae
majuscular
majuscule
majuscule writing
majuscules
mak
makable
makai
makar
makarochkinite
makars
makataan
makateas
makatite
make-believe (current term)
make-do
make-hawk
make-king
make-koshi
make-or-break
make-out
make-over
make-peace
make-readies
make-ready
make-sport
make-up
make-up artist
make-up artists

Literary usage of Make-believe

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. St. Nicholas by Mary Mapes Dodge (1889)
"But for this very reason no one can put all our plays into a book and teach us how to make-believe; we must teach ourselves. As a rule, too, the children ..."

2. Publishers Weekly by Publishers' Board of Trade (U.S.), Book Trade Association of Philadelphia, American Book Trade Union, Am. Book Trade Association, R.R. Bowker Company (1912)
"Molly Make-Believe 165 i. The Rosary 298 3. Max loS 4. The Rules of the Game 94 5. ... Molly Make-Believe 109 6. Marie Claire 85 JULY. j. ..."

3. Thought and Things: A Study of the Development and Meaning of Thought, Or by James Mark Baldwin (1906)
"Readers of Professor Groos' books on play will remember the distinction between the " make-believe " of a strictly biological sort— appearing as ..."

4. Punch by Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Shirley Brooks, Francis Cowley Burnand, Owen Seaman (1879)
"There 's lots of make-believe about. Bless ycr, 1 've heard remarks From purty lips, on pictures, as you 'd think was meant for larks ; And I've seen your ..."

5. Elementary Education: Its Problems and Processes by John Alexander Hull Keith (1905)
"B. make-believe and fancy. Through the process just mentioned, ... The make- believe of the fairy story is worth while because it is essentially moral (in ..."

6. Play in Education by Joseph Lee (1915)
"In the first place the games of the Big Injun age, especially of the earlier part of it, include an element of make-believe. Puss in the corner, ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Make-believe on Dictionary.com!Search for Make-believe on Thesaurus.com!Search for Make-believe on Google!Search for Make-believe on Wikipedia!

Search