pretense
Plural: pretenses
Noun
- A false display or claim; an attempt to deceive.
- the act of giving a false appearance
- pretending with intention to deceive
- imaginative intellectual play
- a false or unsupportable quality
- an artful or simulated semblance
- The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation.
- Affectation or ostentation of manner.
- Intention or purpose not real but professed.
- An unsupported claim made or implied.
- An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.
- Intention; design.
Examples
- "Lady Little", the title that she used, was just a pretense.
- He visited the king under the pretense of friendliness.
- His PRETENSE of confusion over a simple word fooled no one; he was clearly just stalling for time.
- She appeared to weep uncontrollably, but it was all pretense.
- She was a plain-speaking woman without a hint of pretense.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French pretensse, from Late Latin praetēnsus, past participle of Latin praetendō (“to pretend”), from prae- (“before”) + tendō (“to stretch”); see pretend.
Synonyms
dissembling, feigning, guise, make-believe, pretence, pretending, pretension, pretext, simulation, affectation denotes deception for the sake of escape from punishment, an awkward situation, false pretense, fiction, imitation, sham, subterfuge
Scrabble Score: 10
pretense: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpretense: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pretense: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary