Pretend vs Behavior - What's the difference?
pretend | behavior |
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 * 2009 , "Vanity publishing", The Economist , 13 Apr 2009:
To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.).
* Milton
* 2007 , The Guardian , 29 Oct 2007:
To lay claim (to) (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). (originally used without to )
* Dryden
* 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.25:
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:
(obsolete) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
* Milton
(obsolete) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt.
* Shakespeare
(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 […].
(uncountable) Human conduct relative to social norms.
(uncountable) The way a living creature behaves or acts generally.
(uncountable, informal) A state of probation about one's conduct.
(countable) An instance of the way a living creature behaves.
(countable, uncountable, biology, psychology) Observable response produced by an organism.
(uncountable) The way a device or system operates.
As a verb pretend
is .As a noun behavior is
(uncountable) human conduct relative to social norms.pretend
English
Verb
(en verb)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.’}}
- 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.
- This let him know, / Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend / Surprisal.
- 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.
- Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend .
- 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.
- Luster claimed that the women had consented to sex and were only pretending to be asleep.
- Lest that too heavenly form, pretended / To hellish falsehood, snare them.
- Such as shall pretend / Malicious practices against his state.
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . SeeExternal links
* *behavior
English
Alternative forms
* behaviour (everywhere except US) * (l), (l), (l), (l)Noun
(en-noun)- He was on his best behavior when her family visited.