assumed

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of assume.

   The board assumed control of the company after the merger.

   Everyone assumed the meeting had been canceled because of the storm.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs: the plain past (they assumed) and, after have or be, the participle (she has assumed the post; control was assumed). The object usually shows which meaning of assume is at work. A clause about what is true means supposing, while a noun like control or duties means taking on. The participle also settles into two adjectives, the "pretended" sense and the "supposed" sense.

2. 2
   adjective

   Taken to be true or correct without direct proof; supposed or presumed.

   The forecast rested on an assumed growth rate of three percent.

   Her assumed familiarity with the subject proved badly overstated.

   Similarunderstood

   Oppositeproven, verified, actual

3. 3
   adjective

   Adopted falsely in order to deceive; pretended or simulated rather than genuine.

   The spy operated for years under an assumed identity.

   He maintained an assumed calm while the negotiations fell apart.

   Similarfalse, fictitious, feigned, pretended, fake

   Oppositereal, genuine, true, authentic

   Note

   Here the participle keeps the feigning side of assume: putting on a manner one does not really have. It sits easily before a noun (an assumed name, an assumed air), but it also stands after the verb. In Harold Bindloss's The Dust of Conflict (1907), Appleby suspects that the concern on Morales's face "was assumed." Context separates it from the "supposed" sense: an assumed name is false, while an assumed rate is merely unproven.

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