From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishas if .../as though ...as if .../as though ...WAY/MANNER a) in a way that makes it seem that something is true or that something is happening It sounds as though she’s been really ill. Gary was behaving as though nothing had happened. Mrs Crump looked as if she was going to explode. Beckworth shook his head as if to say ‘Don’t trust her’. b) used to emphasize that something is not true or will not happen She said she’d never speak to me again. As if I cared (=I do not care at all). ‘Don’t try any funny business, now.’ ‘As if I would.’As if! spoken informal He asked if I’d go out with him. As if (=it is extremely unlikely that I would go out with him)! → as
Examples from the Corpus
as if .../as though ...• Brian shook his head as if to say "don't trust her."• Joe always sounds as if he's drunk.• Mandy felt as if they were all against her.• You look as if you're having a good time.• You make it seem as if you're being overworked.• She cried then, and went on crying for a week, mourning Fanshawe as though he were dead.• I felt as though I were plunging into something new and quite abnormal.• Everyone's looking as though it's wonderful but it's a din!• Blank-faced, she looked as though she had been drained of all sensation.• It sounds as though she's been really sick.• It was as though some one had burgled my heart and taken away something that meant a great deal to me.• It was as though there were only seven loaves and seven fishes.• He worked to dispel his doubts about his friend as though to pass another test, like his ordeal in the park.• All of them stared at him intently, as though trying to understand something. 