kayfabe
The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc…The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous.
Meaning
2 senses(uncountable)The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous.
(figuratively, uncountable)Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts.
Origin
Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (carny), usually as a purposefully obscure vaUnknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (carny), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition “be fake” formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for “beware”), keep cavey (“stay alert”), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.
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