making believe
Acting out fantasies
Making believe is pretending or imagining, especially in the context of play: The children were making believe they were pirates.
The phrase emphasizes the active, creative aspect of pretense—constructing an alternate reality rather than simply accepting one.
It functions as the progressive form of "make believe," though the noun and adjective forms (a game of make-believe, a make-believe world) are more common.
- pretendingSimulating what isn't real
- imaginary friendMade-up childhood confidant
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- smoke and mirrorsDeceptive obfuscation tactics
- cosplayDressing as media characters
let's pretend · daydreaming · fairy tale · fantasy · flight of fancy · pipe dream · acting · charade · puppetry · conjecture · improvisation · world-building · impersonation · simulation · visualization · invention · masquerade · dress up