masquerade

The author’s ambivalence resembles that of the fellow who supposedly protested the mixing of classes on the dance floor by commissioning a wood-and-plaster coffin as a costume for a Cornelys masquerade in 1771.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Afterward the beau monde had a few days to find new costumes for the Monday Mayday masquerade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

The production, co-directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, jettisons the animal masquerade for a different kind of drag extravaganza.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

The Bohemian second son has so far refused to settle down, but this all changes when he meets a masked lady in silver at a masquerade ball.

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2026

Night masquerade dawned with an un- usual fog, and when Ash went out into the garden to pump water for her stepsis- ters’ baths, the King’s Forest was invisible behind the cool white mist.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

That kind of cynicism is cheap and facile and masquerades as intelligence and erudition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

The track masquerades as easygoing reggae-pop, but the singer is looking for payback—it turns out she’s grinning because her cheating ex is now crying.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025

But it all falls broadly under the same boring commodification of the idea of “mental health”: a sweatshirt or a lipstick or a funny TikTok video that masquerades as more than it is.

From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2023

Although the letter doesn’t clearly define pseudoscience, Lau notes that a “commonsensical definition” is that pseudoscience refers to “something that is not very scientifically supported, that masquerades as if it is already very scientifically established.”

From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023

I have heard about the masquerades in England, with their grand costumes and music and acting, but only nobles are allowed to see them.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

“For over a decade, these three brothers, the defendants, masqueraded as party boys when really they were predators,” said prosecutor Madison Smyser.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

Last season he had masqueraded as Player 001, fooling Gi-hun into trusting him throughout the games and with the armed rebellion, which Front Man of course sabotaged.

From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2025

Officials say people have impersonated firefighters to get into fire-ravaged zones, and now a pair have allegedly masqueraded as members of the media.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2025

As the Celtics’ lead swelled, the fourth quarter turned into a party that masqueraded as the closing minutes of a playoff game, replete with rhythmic chants from the crowd: “Beat the Heat! Beat the Heat!”

From New York Times ● May 15, 2022

“I assumed a fake identity and masqueraded as an indentured servant to infiltrate IOI’s corporate headquarters. I’ve been there for the past eight days. I just now escaped.”

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Left alone, tradition gets sillier and more alive whether it involves a god, a robot, or a scallion masquerading as a paintbrush.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Hunter Schafer plays Yeoh’s partner, a human masquerading as a replicant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

I hadn’t learned yet that I was a Type A person masquerading as Type B. The disguise began to fray almost immediately.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Employees often feel safer owning the company they know, but that can be familiarity bias masquerading as investment analysis,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

I shudder at my delusions of charity, at my shame masquerading as virtue, at lies I’ve told myself, punishments I’ve inflicted on myself, and punishments I’ve inflicted on my mother.

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart