What's the difference between imagine and pretend?

Imagine


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To form in the mind a notion or idea of; to form a mental image of; to conceive; to produce by the imagination.
  • (v. t.) To contrive in purpose; to scheme; to devise; to compass; to purpose. See Compass, v. t., 5.
  • (v. t.) To represent to one's self; to think; to believe.
  • (v. i.) To form images or conceptions; to conceive; to devise.
  • (v. i.) To think; to suppose.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) 4) Parents imagined that fruit drinks, carbonated beverages and beverages with lactic acid promoted tooth decay.
  • (2) It was an artwork that fired the imaginations of 2 million visitors who played with, were provoked by and plunged themselves into the curious atmosphere of The Weather Project , with its swirling mist and gigantic mirrors that covered the hall's ceiling.
  • (3) He's called out for his lack of imagination in a stinging review by a leading food critic (Oliver Platt) and - after being introduced to Twitter by his tech-savvy son (Emjay Anthony) - accidentally starts a flame war that will lead to him losing his job.
  • (4) Not long ago the comeback would have been impossible to imagine.
  • (5) New developments in data storage and retrieval forecast applications that could not have been imagined even a year or two ago.
  • (6) This may have been a pointed substitute programme, management perhaps imagining a future where electronic presenters will simply download their minds to MP3-players.
  • (7) Imagining faces was also the only condition that led to an increase of activity in the left inferior occipital region which has been suggested by previous studies as being a crucial area for visual imagery.
  • (8) "It is difficult to imagine the torment experienced by the vulnerable victims of crimes such as these.
  • (9) "The role of leader is one of the greatest honours imaginable – but it is not a bauble to aspire for.
  • (10) I personally felt grateful that British TV set itself apart from its international rivals in this way, not afraid to challenge, to stretch the mind and imagination.
  • (11) In 2009, he allowed Imagine to be played on the cathedral bells.
  • (12) America's same-sex couples, and the politicians who have barred gay marriage in 30 states, are looking to the supreme court to hand down a definitive judgment on where the constitution stands on an issue its framers are unlikely to have imagined would ever be considered.
  • (13) We need not strain our powers of prediction to imagine how the Conservatives and much of the media would react.
  • (14) I still can’t figure out who this is aimed at: I’m imagining characters who think they’re in Wolf of Wall Street, with such an inflated sense of entitlement that even al desko meals need to come with Michelin tags.
  • (15) Imagine a Swansea player plays against Chelsea on Saturday and then goes to Manchester City, then he plays against Chelsea again the next week.
  • (16) I am acutely aware that not all of you, by any stretch of the imagination, will approve of everything I have done.
  • (17) The Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin's son Shane, who clearly had the more imaginative father of the three, was drafted 18th; he'll be playing for the Dallas Mavericks.
  • (18) There is never any chink in her composure – any hint of tension – and while I can't imagine what it must feel like to be so at ease with one's world, I don't think she is faking it.
  • (19) After all those years imagining what he would look like; first his hair, then his forehead and then those blue, blue eyes gradually revealed themselves.
  • (20) Our older population is the most impressive, self-sacrificing and imaginative part of our entire community.

Pretend


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim.
  • (v. t.) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
  • (v. t.) To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship.
  • (v. t.) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt.
  • (v. t.) To hold before one; to extend.
  • (v. i.) To put in, or make, a claim, truly or falsely; to allege a title; to lay claim to, or strive after, something; -- usually with to.
  • (v. i.) 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.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) His anti-politics act may just be a shtick – pretending he's still on Have I Got News for You, satirising politics even though he's right at the centre of it – but it liberates him from the usual constraints.
  • (2) "Obviously [writers in translation] have a disadvantage and there's no sense pretending they don't, of being read in translation," said Gekoski.
  • (3) Tony Abbott pretended to support the renewable energy industry before the election but is now “launching a full-frontal attack” according to Labor’s environment spokesman Mark Butler.
  • (4) The Telegraph's secret taping of Cable and fellow Liberal Democrat ministers while pretending to be concerned constituents has raised eyebrows in some media quarters, but the newspaper has claimed a "clear public interest" defence for its actions.
  • (5) It is hard to tell who has really suffered, and who is only pretending.
  • (6) Respecting the frequency of invalidity this cancer pretends the second place among these diseases.
  • (7) When this parliament votes for another referendum as it inevitably will, thanks to the perpetual crutch that the Greens provide, let’s not pretend it reflects the will of the Scottish people, because it doesn’t.
  • (8) Non-doms could no longer pretend to live in Monaco while living in the UK for four working days a week.
  • (9) But equally, you’re ignoring how these people feel if you try and pretend they don’t feel their area is changing.
  • (10) Additionally, the Schmidt-Furlow investigators looked at instances where female interrogators had fondled prisoners, or pretended to splash menstrual blood upon them.
  • (11) Stewart Lee with a mask made of meat, pretending to be Canadian?
  • (12) Yes, there are other reasons why a boy might take a clock out of its casing & pretend he’d made it.
  • (13) It would be idle to pretend that Cameron doesn't have talents as a leader.
  • (14) Their leaders are charging round the country pretending they are going to get an overall majority, but in their heart of hearts they know it is not true, you can see it in their eyes.” The deputy prime minister, whose party has been in coalition with the Conservatives since 2010, said the next question for the public was “that since neither David Cameron or Ed Miliband are going to walk into Downing Street on their own, who is it the voters want at their side”.
  • (15) By pretending to ignore the scientific evidence, AquaBounty is doing readers a disservice.
  • (16) Pro-Europeans don't do themselves any favours by trying to pretend that it didn't happen.
  • (17) Indeed watching the prime minister singling out unemployed youngsters for uniquely punitive measures while pretending it is for their own good, cheered on by a gang of braying chums, it looks less like the behaviour of a national statesman and more like the petty vindictiveness of a schoolyard bully.
  • (18) And he must not pretend to be ignorant of the consequences of continuing to burn coal or take refuge in a "carbon cap" or some "target" for future emission reductions.
  • (19) During the collection of a one-hour spontaneous language sample from each child the experimenter pretended 20 times not to understand and asked, "What?"
  • (20) He would go around the communities and pretend to have a conversation with people but really his eyes were on the children playing," she says.