Adjacent Words

Pretense definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRETENSE, n. pretens'. [L. proetensus, proetendo.]
1. A holding out or offering to others something false or feigned; a presenting to others, either in words or actions, a false or hypocritical appearance, usually with a view to conceal what is real, and thus to deceive. Under pretense of giving liberty to nations, the prince conquered and enslaved them. Under pretense of patriotism, ambitious men serve their own selfish purposes.
Let not Trojans, with a feigned pretense
Of proffer'd peace, delude the Latian prince.
It is sometimes preceded by on; as on pretense of revenging Caesar's death.
2. Assumption; claim to notice.
Never was any thing of this pretense more ingeniously imparted.
3. Claim, true or false.
Primogeniture cannot have any pretense to a right of solely inheriting property or power.
4. Something held out to terrify or for other purpose; as a pretense of danger.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending" [syn: pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning]
2: pretending with intention to deceive [syn: pretense, pretence, feigning, dissembling]
3: imaginative intellectual play [syn: pretense, pretence, make-believe]
4: a false or unsupportable quality [syn: pretension, pretense, pretence]
5: an artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them" [syn: guise, pretense, pretence, pretext]

Merriam Webster's

or pretence noun Etymology: Middle English, probably modification of Medieval Latin pretensio, irregular from Latin praetendere Date: 15th century 1. a claim made or implied; especially one not supported by fact 2. a. mere ostentation ; pretentiousness <confuse dignity with pomposity and pretense — Bennett Cerf> b. a pretentious act or assertion 3. an inadequate or insincere attempt to attain a certain condition or quality 4. professed rather than real intention or purpose ; pretext <was there under false pretenses> 5. make-believe, fiction 6. false show ; simulation <saw through his pretense of indifference>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

US var. of PRETENCE.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pretense Pre*tense", Pretence Pre*tence, n. [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 C[ae]sar'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. Usage: 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see pretence

Moby Thesaurus

acting, affectation, affectedness, air, airs, airs and graces, alibi, apology, appearance, appurtenance, artificiality, attitudinizing, authority, birthright, blind, bluff, bluffing, charade, cheating, claim, cloak, color, coloring, conjugal right, cover, cover story, cover-up, deceit, deception, delusion, demand, device, disguise, dissemblance, dissembling, dissimulation, divine right, droit, due, excuse, explanation, facade, face, faculty, fake, fakery, faking, false air, false front, false show, falsity, feigned belief, feigning, feint, four-flushing, fraud, front, gilt, gloss, guise, handle, humbug, humbuggery, hypocrisy, image, imposture, inalienable right, insincerity, interest, lame excuse, locus standi, loftiness, lofty affectations, make-believe, mannerism, mask, masquerade, mere show, meretriciousness, natural right, ostensible motive, ostent, ostentation, ostentatiousness, outward show, pageant, playacting, poor excuse, pose, posing, posture, power, prerogative, prescription, presumptive right, pretension, pretentiousness, pretext, proper claim, property right, protestation, prunes and prisms, public image, public motive, put-off, put-on, putting on airs, rational ground, rationale, reason, reason for, reason why, refuge, representation, right, screen, seeming, semblance, sham, show, simulacrum, simulation, smoke screen, speciousness, stalking-horse, stated cause, stratagem, stylishness, subterfuge, the big idea, the idea, the whatfor, the wherefore, the why, title, trick, underlying reason, unnaturalness, varnish, veil, vested interest, vested right, window dressing