Standard Lemma guide

pretense

noun · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • /ˈpɹiːtɛns/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R IY0 T EH1 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Affectation or ostentation of manner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • She was a plain-speaking woman without a hint of pretense.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Intention or purpose not real but professed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • with only a pretense of accuracy

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

An unsupported claim made or implied.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Intention; design.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

the act of giving a false appearance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his conformity was only pretending

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: deception, deceit, dissembling, dissimulation

Narrower terms: appearance, show, make-believe, pretend, affectation, mannerism, pose, affectedness, masquerade

8

noun

Meaning 8

an artful or simulated semblance

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • under the guise of friendship he betrayed them

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: guise, pretence, pretext

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: semblance, gloss, color, colour

9

noun

Meaning 9

a false or unsupportable quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pretension, pretence

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: artificiality

10

noun

Meaning 10

imaginative intellectual play

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pretence, make-believe

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: imagination, imaging, imagery, mental imagery

11

noun

Meaning 11

pretending with intention to deceive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pretence, feigning, dissembling

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: misrepresentation, deceit, deception

Narrower terms: bluff, pretext, stalking-horse, hypocrisy, lip service

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: ذريعة — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Bulgarian: увъртане (uvǎrtane) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Bulgarian: преструване (prestruvane) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Czech: předstírání — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Esperanto: ŝajnigo — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • French: prétention — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • German: Vortäuschung — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • German: Vorspiegelung — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • German: Vortäuschen — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • German: Anschein — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • German: Heucheln — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • German: Vorwand — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Ancient Greek: πρόφασις (próphasis) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Ancient Greek: σκῆψις (skêpsis) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Ancient Greek: μύνη (múnē) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Hindi: बहाना (bahānā) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Irish: cur i gcéill — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Latin: praetextum nm calumnia — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Russian: притво́рство (pritvórstvo) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Sanskrit: अपदेश (apadeśa) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Spanish: pretensión — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Spanish: pretenso — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Spanish: achaque — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Swedish: förevändning — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Ottoman Turkish: قولپ (kulp) — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Vietnamese: giả tạo — act of pretending or pretension; false or hypocritical profession
  • Bulgarian: предло́г (predlóg) — unsupported claim
  • Esperanto: pretendo — unsupported claim
  • Spanish: cubierta — unsupported claim