What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Pretend vs Behave - What's the difference?

pretend | behave |

As verbs the difference between pretend and behave

is that pretend is while behave is (label) to conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way.

pretend

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To claim, allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception.
  • * 1749 , (Henry Fielding), Tom Jones , XVIII.23:
  • *:"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!"
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=5 citation , passage=‘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.’}}
  • * 2009 , "Vanity publishing", The Economist , 13 Apr 2009:
  • 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.
  • To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.).
  • * Milton
  • This let him know, / Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend / Surprisal.
  • * 2007 , The Guardian , 29 Oct 2007:
  • Gap and other clothes manufacturers should stop using small subcontractors because they are difficult to control. Instead, they should open up their own fully-owned production facilities so that they cannot pretend ignorance when abuses are committed.
  • To lay claim (to) (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). (originally used without to )
  • * Dryden
  • Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend .
  • * 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.25:
  • People observed the diversity of schools and the acerbity of their disputes, and decided that all alike were pretending to knowledge which was in fact unattainable.
  • To make oneself appear (to) do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe.
  • * 1814 , (Jane Austen), Mansfield Park :
  • *:"The truth is, Ma'am," said Mrs. Grant, pretending to whisper across the table to Mrs. Norris, "that Dr. Grant hardly knows what the natural taste of our apricot is [...]."
  • * 2003 , Duncan Campbell, The Guardian , 23 Jan 2003:
  • Luster claimed that the women had consented to sex and were only pretending to be asleep.
  • (obsolete) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
  • * Milton
  • Lest that too heavenly form, pretended / To hellish falsehood, snare them.
  • (obsolete) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Such as shall pretend / Malicious practices against his state.
  • (obsolete) To hold before one; to extend.
  • *1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.11:
  • *:Pastorella […] Was by the Captaine all this while defended, / Who, minding more her safety then himselfe, / His target alwayes over her pretended […].
  • Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    behave

    English

    Verb

  • (label) To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way.
  • * Bible, ii. 21
  • those that behaved themselves manfully
  • (label) To act, conduct oneself in a specific manner;
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-21, volume=411, issue=8884, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Subtle effects , passage=Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.}}
  • To conduct, manage, regulate (something).
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • He did behave his anger ere 'twas spent.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.iii:
  • who his limbs with labours, and his mind / Behaues with cares, cannot so easie mis.
  • (label) To act in a polite or proper way.
  • Derived terms

    * behave oneself