What is to hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay called?

pretend — To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay. (Webster's 1913.)

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