make believe
make believe , intransitive verb
To pretend; -- often used with that, but often having the that omitted; as, he made believe he didn't hear her; or he made believe that he didn't hear her.
make-believe , noun
A feigning to believe, as in the play of children; a mere pretense; a fiction; an invention.
Childlike make-believe.
To forswear self-delusion and make-believe.
Make-believe , adjective
1.
Feigned; insincere.
Make-believe reverence.
2.
Imaginary; as, the child had a make-believe friend to whom he often talked.