Because he did not want to take the test, the student tried to ____ a stomachache.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The children decided to ____ they were explorers discovering a new land in the back garden.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-
Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-i
Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i?
Proto-Italic *prai
Proto-Italic *prai-
Latin prae-
Proto-Indo-European *ten-
Proto-Indo-European *tend-der.
Proto-Italic *tendō
Latin tendō
Latin praetendōbor.
Anglo-Norman pretendreder.
English pretend
From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""After what past at Upton, so soon to engage in a new amour with another woman, while I fancied, and you pretended, your heart was bleeding for me!""
— 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 23, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVIII:
"It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"But I love you / More than I wanted to / There's no point in trying to pretend"
— 1983 October 31, Genesis, “That's All”, in Genesis:
"You pretend you're high / Pretend you're bored / Pretend you're anything / Just to be adored"
— 1996, “Stupid Girl”, performed by Garbage:
"I have nothing but contempt for people who hire ghost-writers. But at least most faux authors have the decency to pretend that they are sweating blood over "their" book."
— 2009 April 13, “Vanity publishing”, in The Economist: