masquerade vs pretend

masquerade

noun
  • An act of living under false pretenses; a concealment of something by a false or unreal show; a disguise, a pretence; also, a pretentious display. 

  • The act of wearing a mask or dressing up in a costume for, or as if for, a masquerade ball. 

  • An assembly of varied, often fanciful, things. 

  • An assembly or party of people wearing (usually elaborate or fanciful) masks and costumes, and amusing themselves with dancing, conversation, or other diversions. 

  • A cosplay event at which costumed attendees perform skits. 

verb
  • To conceal (someone) with, or as if with, a mask; to disguise. 

  • To take part in a masquerade; to assemble in masks and costumes; (loosely) to wear a disguise. 

  • To pass off as a different person or a person with qualities that one does not possess; also, to make a pretentious show of being what one is not. 

pretend

noun
  • the act of engaging in pretend play. 

verb
  • To claim, to allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception. 

  • To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.). 

  • To lay claim to (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). (originally used without to) 

  • To make oneself appear to do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe. 

adj
  • Not really what it is represented as being; imaginary, feigned. 

How often have the words masquerade and pretend occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )