pretend

I still can’t pretend the two numbers don’t exist.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

It's what some ministers call "the politics of trying" – putting time and effort into ideas that you don't pretend are revolutionary, but give direction, and a sense of sympathy to the public.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

While growing up in Palo Alto, it was not uncommon for animator Lisa Hanawalt to pretend she was a horse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

But I won’t pretend my hands are clean.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

I turn away from them, pretend like I’m putting on deodorant, and slip the mysterious postcard from my waistband.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Early musical shorts like “Morning Walk” and “Danielleanika” lean into his stoic, awkward persona as he pretends to rap or sing a passionate love song.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

Fearing that the surprise visitor might be a “dangle”—someone who pretends to switch sides to gain a foothold in the enemy camp—his hosts were wary at first.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

What’s disheartening is that she pretends there is no connection, telling Vogue Italia last week, “Algorithms and artificial intelligence are the opposite of taking risks to me, and that is the opposite of making art.”

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

"He is not happy, he pretends he is happy," said Tamim.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

“Fern,” I grumble, but she pretends not to hear me.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

He slipped on the back steps last winter, and we both pretended it didn’t scare us, but he could have just as easily slipped on another stairwell.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026

Pressed — surely she’s pretended to be sick to get out of a party? — she concedes she has, explaining that she thought he meant the criminal case against her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Then he headed back to barracks, where he sat with the surviving troops and pretended he had suffered a concussion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The mood was perhaps best summed up at the face-off, when Joshua smiled and pretended to tickle Fury's stomach.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

I just ran the line, took a beaver now and then, and pretended somewhere in my mind that I was Sergeant Preston and had a whole team of Kings out in front of me.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Fielder is left wondering whether she’s genuinely unaware of the deal Evans negotiated or merely pretending not to know.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

The phone call had come from Amacher—the man now complaining the situation has been blown out of proportion—who said he had called the center, pretending to be a member of Talarico’s family.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

But nobody in Wales is pretending there's nothing to worry about.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Just quit pretending they are a separate bet from oil, and ask your portfolio three questions.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

“Formal attire requested”? “There will be dancing on the terrace”? “Regrets only”? Then she sighed and put down her pen, for the spell of pretending was broken.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood