noun
Meaning 1
One who intends or purposes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
pretender
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/pɹɪˈtɛndəɹ/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛndə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: P R IY0 T EH1 N D ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.
One who aspires to the hand of a woman in marriage; a suitor, a wooer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.
A claimant to a throne or the office of a ruler; originally in a neutral sense, but now always applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
One who pretends or lays claim to something; one who makes a profession, show, or assertion, especially without adequate grounds, falsely, or with intent to deceive; a dissembler, deceiver, charlatan, hypocrite.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dissembler, flip-flopper, hypocrite, phony, bamboozler, bouncer, bullshitter, cheat, cheater, cogger, cony-catcher, crammer, deceiver, deceptor, fabricator, fabulist, falser, gabber, grifter, guiler, liar, losenger, mocker, pseudologist, rook, Scandaroon, shammer, Spanish athlete, swindler, swike, treacher, trickster, trucker, wernard
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To tender (a bid, etc.) in advance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncommon
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hypocrite, dissembler, dissimulator, phony, phoney
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: deceiver, cheat, cheater, trickster, beguiler, slicker
Narrower terms: smoothie, smoothy, sweet talker, charmer, Tartuffe, Tartufe, whited sepulcher, whited sepulchre
noun
Meaning 9
a person who makes deceitful pretenses
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: imposter, impostor, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: deceiver, cheat, cheater, trickster, beguiler, slicker
Narrower terms: name dropper, ringer
noun
Meaning 10
a claimant to the throne or to the office of ruler (usually without just title)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: claimant
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh2- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh2i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *téndeti Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin praetendōbor. Anglo-Norman pretendreder. English pretend Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English pretender From pretend + -er.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh2- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh2i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- English tender English pretender From pre- + tender.
Across languages
Translations
69 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: претенде́нт (pretendént) — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- German: Beansprucher — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- German: Ansprucherheber — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- German: Prätendent — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- Hungarian: igénylő — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- Hungarian: igényt tartó — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- Hungarian: jogot formáló — one who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something
- German: Vortäuscher — one who makes baseless pretensions
- German: Schwindler — one who makes baseless pretensions
- German: Betrüger — one who makes baseless pretensions
- German: Täuscher — one who makes baseless pretensions
- German: Scharlatan — one who makes baseless pretensions
- Bulgarian: лицеме́р (licemér) — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Dutch: huichelaar — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Dutch: veinzer — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Finnish: teeskentelijä — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- French: imposteur — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- French: imposteuse — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- German: Betrüger — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- German: Betrügerin — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- German: Angeber — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- German: Angeberin — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- German: Heuchler — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- German: Heuchlerin — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Hungarian: színlelő — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Hungarian: tettető — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Hungarian: szimuláns — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Irish: gleacaí — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Irish: geáitseálaí — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Italian: impostore — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Italian: mistificatore — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Italian: simulatore — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Latin: simulātor — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Plautdietsch: Schienheilja — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Russian: притво́рщик (pritvórščik) — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Russian: притво́рщица (pritvórščica) — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Russian: лицеме́р (licemér) — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Russian: лицеме́рка (licemérka) — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Spanish: impostor — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Spanish: mentiroso — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Spanish: embustero — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Spanish: hipócrita — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Spanish: falso — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Spanish: grupiento — person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold
- Belarusian: прэтэндэ́нт (pretendént) — claimant to a throne
- Belarusian: прэтэндэ́нтка (pretendéntka) — claimant to a throne
- Bulgarian: претенде́нт (pretendént) — claimant to a throne
- Bulgarian: претенде́нтка (pretendéntka) — claimant to a throne
- Dutch: pretendent — claimant to a throne
- Finnish: kruununtavoittelija — claimant to a throne
- French: prétendant — claimant to a throne
- French: prétendante — claimant to a throne
- German: Anwärter — claimant to a throne
- German: Anwärterin — claimant to a throne
- Hungarian: trónkövetelő — claimant to a throne
- Irish: éilitheoir — claimant to a throne
- Irish: oidhre — claimant to a throne
- Italian: pretendente — claimant to a throne
- Italian: aspirante — claimant to a throne
- Italian: candidato — claimant to a throne
- Macedonian: претенде́нт (pretendént) — claimant to a throne
- Macedonian: претенде́нтка (pretendéntka) — claimant to a throne
- Norwegian Bokmål: tronpretendent — claimant to a throne
- Polish: pretendent — claimant to a throne
- Russian: претенде́нт (pretendént) — claimant to a throne
- Russian: претенде́нтка (pretendéntka) — claimant to a throne
- Spanish: pretendiente — claimant to a throne
- Ukrainian: претенде́нт (pretendént) — claimant to a throne
- Ukrainian: претенде́нтка (pretendéntka) — claimant to a throne
Real reading context