to pretend or imagine that something is true or real when it is not.
EXAMPLE SENTENCES:
I tried to make believe she was happy, but knew deep down it wasn’t true.
Brenda rode along, make-believing she was a knight riding to the rescue.
I was knocking them together gently, make-believing that they were real entities, locked in fisticuffs, a classic battle of good versus evil.
The dark-haired child gave way to her sister’s commands, slinking to the base of the stone pedestal that would be make-believed into a high and impenetrable lair.
Children know how to imagine and make-believe, and how to play.
If I wanted to make believe (that) I wasn’t involved that was OK.
You can make-believe you’re swimming out in the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean.