pretense
/ˈpɹiːtɛns/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.01 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "He visited the king under the pretense of friendliness."
- ""Lady Little", the title that she used, was just a pretense."
- "She appeared to weep uncontrollably, but it was all pretense."
- "Great armaments were, therefore, put on foot in Moravia and Bohemia, while the elector of Saxony, under a pretence of military parade, drew together about ſixteen thouſand men, which were poſted in a ſtrong ſituation at Pirna."
- "The London Saturday Review pays the following well-merited compliment to two American lady authors: “Very few of even our best writers can compass a book for the young which shall be all that it ought to be, avoiding, on the one hand, extravagant sensationality and a standard so high as to be outside human nature altogether; on the other, vapid silliness, which no grown girl can accept as fitting food for her mind at all, and which irritates, as all pretense and make-believe must.[…]”"
- "There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. [...] Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. Pushing men hustle each other at the windows of the purser's office, under pretence of expecting letters or despatching telegrams."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
affectation denotes deception for the sake of escape from punishment
an awkward situation
false pretense
fiction
imitation
pretext
sham
subterfuge