- Home
- Idioms
- as if
as if
as if
1. Like. I have such a terrible headache—I feel as if my head is going to explode. I did tell her that I wouldn't be home for dinner tonight. It's as if she doesn't listen to me at all!
2. An interjection indicating complete dismissal of what has been said or suggested, implying that it is not the case or would never happen. A: "Tim thinks he's going to go to the prom with you." B: "As if! I'd rather go by myself."
as if
also as though like something was actually so The pain was so bad, he felt as if a knife were sticking between his shoulders. When my mother came to visit, I tried to make everything as though she were on vacation.
as if
Also,
as though. As it would be, as in
He decided to accept, as if it really mattered, or
John scowled as though he were really angry. The first idiom dates from the late 1500s, the variant from the late 1700s. Also see
make as if.