masquerade

CEFRC2

/ˌmæskəˈɹeɪd/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A party where people wear masks and costumes.

  2. 02

    verb

    To pretend to be someone or something else.

Examples

  • Tom held a masquerade ball in the grand ballroom.

  • What is the reason for this masquerade?

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4

Also pronounced

  • /ˌmæskəˈɹæɪd/
  • /ˌmɑːs-/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An act of living under false pretenses; a concealment of something by a false or unreal show; a disguise, a pretence; also, a pretentious display.

  2. The act of wearing a mask or dressing up in a costume for, or as if for, a masquerade ball.

  3. An assembly or party of people wearing (usually elaborate or fanciful) masks and costumes, and amusing themselves with dancing, conversation, or other diversions.

More examples

In context

  • He masqueraded as my friend until the truth finally came out.

  • I was invited to the masquerade party at their home.

  • I’m going to masquerade as an old-fashioned pilot. What are you going to dress up as?

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Everyone wore elegant costumes and masks at the Venetian blank held in the grand ballroom.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is borrowed from Middle French mascarade, masquarade, masquerade (modern French mascarade (“masquerade, masque; farce”)), and its etymon Italian mascherata (“masquerade”), from maschera (“mask”) + -ata. Maschera is derived from Medieval Latin masca (“mask”): see further there. The English word is cognate with Late Latin masquarata, Portuguese mascarada, Spanish mascarada. The verb is derived from the noun.