PRETENCE

pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning

(noun) the act of giving a false appearance; “his conformity was only pretending”

guise, pretense, pretence, pretext

(noun) an artful or simulated semblance; “under the guise of friendship he betrayed them”

pretension, pretense, pretence

(noun) a false or unsupportable quality

pretense, pretence, make-believe

(noun) imaginative intellectual play

pretense, pretence, feigning, dissembling

(noun) pretending with intention to deceive

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

pretence (countable and uncountable, plural pretences)

(British spelling) An act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext.

Something asserted or alleged on slight evidence; an unwarranted assumption.

(obsolete) Intention; design.

Source: Wiktionary

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Pre*tence", n., Pre*tence"ful, a., Pre*tence"*less, a.

Definition: See Pretense, Pretenseful, Pretenseless.

Pre*tense", Pre*tence, n. Etym: [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]

1. The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. Spenser. Primogeniture can not have any pretense to a right of solely inheriting property or power. Locke. I went to Lambeth with Sir R. Brown's pretense to the wardenship of Merton College, Oxford. Evelyn.

2. The act of holding out, or offering, to others something false or feigned; presentation of what is deceptive or hypocritical; deception by showing what is unreal and concealing what is real; false show; simulation; as, pretense of illness; under pretense of patriotism; on pretense of revenging Cæsar's death.

3. That which is pretended; false, deceptive, or hypocritical show, argument, or reason; pretext; feint. Let not the Trojans, with a feigned pretense Of proffered peace, delude the Latian prince. Dryden.

4. Intention; design. [Obs.] A very pretense and purpose of unkindness. Shak.

Note: See the Note under Offense.

Syn.

– Mask; appearance; color; show; pretext; excuse.

– Pretense, Pretext. A pretense is something held out as real when it is not so, thus falsifying the truth. A pretext is something woven up in order to cover or conceal one's true motives, feelings, or reasons. Pretext is often, but not always, used in a bad sense.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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