Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb pretend

6 senses of pretend

Sense 1
feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble -- (make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache")
       => misrepresent, belie -- (represent falsely; "This statement misrepresents my intentions")

Sense 2
dissemble, pretend, act -- (behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting")

Sense 3
pretend -- (put forward a claim and assert right or possession of; "pretend the title of King")
       => claim, lay claim, arrogate -- (demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to; "He claimed his suitcases at the airline counter"; "Mr. Smith claims special tax exemptions because he is a foreign resident")

Sense 4
guess, venture, pretend, hazard -- (put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation; "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong")
       => speculate -- (talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion; "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal")

Sense 5
make, pretend, make believe -- (represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like; "She makes like an actress")
       => act, play, represent -- (play a role or part; "Gielgud played Hamlet"; "She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role"; "She played the servant to her husband's master")

Sense 6
profess, pretend -- (state insincerely; "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine")
       => claim -- (assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing; "He claimed that he killed the burglar")

Antonyms of adj pretended

1 sense of pretended

Sense 1
assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham -- (adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty")

INDIRECT (VIA counterfeit) -> genuine, echt -- (not fake or counterfeit; "a genuine Picasso"; "genuine leather")

Similarity of adj pretended

1 sense of pretended

Sense 1
assumed, false, fictitious, fictive, pretended, put on, sham -- (adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty")
       => counterfeit (vs. genuine), imitative -- (not genuine; imitating something superior; "counterfeit emotion"; "counterfeit money"; "counterfeit works of art"; "a counterfeit prince")