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Entry 3 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

make-believe

· make·-be·lieve · IPA /ˈmeɪk bəˌliːv/
01 n. A feigning to believe, as in the play of children; a mere pretense; a fiction; an invention.
  1. 1.
    A feigning to believe, as in the play of children; a mere pretense; a fiction; an invention.
    “To forswear self-delusion and make-believe.” — M. Arnold.
02 a. Feigned; insincere.
  1. 1.
    Feigned; insincere.
  2. 2.
    Imaginary; as, the child had a make-believe friend to whom he often talked.