masquerade

masquerade as (someone or something)

1. Literally, to disguise oneself as someone or something; to dress in apparel meant to look like someone or something else. I love seeing all the kids on Halloween masquerading as ghouls, goblins, and cartoon characters.

2. To pretend to be someone or something that one is not; to posture as someone or something. It's clear now that the candidate has just been masquerading as a common, working-class citizen to gain more votes across the county. She masqueraded as a legitimate journalist before it was discovered that she had plagiarized most of her work.

See also: masquerade

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

masquerade as someone or something

to appear disguised as someone or something; to pretend to be someone or something. We decided to masquerade as ghosts for the party. Mr. Wilson, who is a bit overweight, masqueraded as Cinderella's coach.

See also: masquerade

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.