pretense

[ pri-tens, pree-tens ]

noun

1. pretending or feigning; make-believe:

   My sleepiness was all pretense.

2. a false show of something:

   a pretense of friendship.

   Synonyms: semblance

3. a piece of make-believe.

   Synonyms: veil, mask

4. the act of pretending or alleging falsely.
5. a false allegation or justification:

   He excused himself from the lunch on a pretense of urgent business.

6. insincere or false profession:

   His pious words were mere pretense.

7. the putting forth of an unwarranted claim.
8. the claim itself.
9. any allegation or claim:

   to obtain money under false pretenses.

10. pretension (usually followed by to ):

    destitute of any pretense to wit.

11. pretentiousness.

Other Words From

• pre·tenseful adjective
• pre·tenseless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pretense¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Anglo-French, from unattested Medieval Latin praetēnsa, noun use of feminine of praetēnsus, past participle (replacing Latin praetentus ) of praetendere “to put forward, stretch forth, pretend”; pretend

Example Sentences

Stewart also pleaded guilty to collecting about $261,000 on false pretenses from another small business loan program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which provides low-interest financing to struggling small businesses during disasters.

From ProPublica

Sometimes they would send a target an infected file under the pretense of collaborating on vulnerability research.

From Fortune

It had a lot of joy because there was not a lot of pretense.

From Washington Post

The Republican Party has proved that its hatred of liberals is so foundational that it will abandon any pretense of commitment to democracy, if democracy allows for the possibility that liberals might win an election.

From Washington Post

We’ve dropped the pretense that this is not a looks-based profession.

From Washington Post

In Iraq and Syria, unlike in Libya, there is no pretense that this is anything less than war in the constitutional sense.

From The Daily Beast

We would perhaps be tossing out any pretense of traditional baseball in exchange for popular thrill-a-minute spectacle.

From The Daily Beast

They are winning incremental battles under the pretense of health regulations and parental consent.

From The Daily Beast

There is not even the pretense of actual interaction with voters.

From The Daily Beast

All along, Orman never made any pretense about her sexuality.

From The Daily Beast

After long delays Crane and Keith made pretense of building camps and starting to log.

From Project Gutenberg

No one who makes any pretense of seeing England will miss either of these places.

From Project Gutenberg

Come, Peter Snooks, to the dog that was never far out of sight, well at least make a pretense of being useful.

From Project Gutenberg

What oceans of futility one discovered, what mountains of pretense—and with what forests of scholarship grown over them!

From Project Gutenberg

Ruth always suspected that Uncle Jabez Potter made a pretense of being really worse than he was.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• charade
• cloak
• pretext
• semblance
• veneer