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Pretense
Definitions
- 1 The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation. countable, uncountable
"He visited the king under the pretense of friendliness."
- 2 the act of giving a false appearance wordnet
- 3 Affectation or ostentation of manner. uncountable
"She was a plain-speaking woman without a hint of pretense."
- 4 an artful or simulated semblance wordnet
- 5 Intention or purpose not real but professed. countable, uncountable
"with only a pretense of accuracy"
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 a false or unsupportable quality wordnet
- 7 An unsupported claim made or implied. countable, uncountable
"He was gentlemanly, steady, tractable, with a thorough knowledge of his duties; and in time, when yet very young, he became chief mate of a fine ship, without ever having been tested by those events of the sea that show in the light of day the inner worth of a man, the edge of his temper, and the fibre of his stuff; that reveal the quality of his resistance and the secret truth of his pretences, not only to others but also to himself."
- 8 imaginative intellectual play wordnet
- 9 An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality. countable, uncountable
- 10 pretending with intention to deceive wordnet
- 11 Intention; design. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"A very pretence and purpose of unkindness."
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.
See also for "pretense"
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