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🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

faire semblant

Pronunciation / Transliteration: fɛʁ sɑ̃blɑ̃

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Pretending/prɪˈtɛndɪŋ/
verbadjectivenounCEFR B1 (Intermediate)Top #2100 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Il fait semblant de dormir pour éviter de travailler."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To behave as if something is true when you know that it is not, especially in a game or as a form of deceit.

    "The children were pretending to be brave explorers in the jungle."
As adjective
  1. 1

    Not real; simulated or imaginary.

    "She wore a plastic crown and wrapped herself in a pretending cloak of royalty."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Latin praetendere, meaning 'to stretch before, allege, or claim,' combining prae- ('before') and tendere ('to stretch'). Over centuries in Middle French and Middle English, the meaning shifted from putting forward a claim to feigning, simulating, or making believe.

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