Meaning & use
pretense
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A false show of feeling, skill or quality meant to make others believe something untrue.
Grammar: Often with of: a pretense of friendship.
Patterns
- a pretense of something
- without pretense
She kept up a pretense of cheerfulness all evening.
He dropped the pretense and admitted he was worried.
They made no pretense of liking each other.
nouncountable
A false reason given to hide the real purpose.
Grammar: Often in the phrase under false pretenses or under the pretense of.
Patterns
- under the pretense of something
- under false pretenses
He entered the building under the pretense of delivering mail.
The money was obtained under false pretenses.
On the pretense of a headache, she left the meeting.
noununcountabledisapproving
Showy, self-important behavior that tries to seem grander than it is.
Grammar: Usually appears in the negative: without pretense.
Patterns
- free of pretense
- without pretense
The restaurant is simple and free of pretense.
He is a famous author, but entirely without pretense.
Her speech was warm and without pretense.
Word forms
| plural | pretenses |
|---|
Common combinations
- under false pretenses
- She got the job under false pretenses.
- keep up the pretense
- They kept up the pretense for years.
- drop the pretense
- It is time to drop the pretense.
- make no pretense
- He made no pretense of being an expert.
- mere pretense
- The politeness was mere pretense.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pretext
- Pretext is specifically a false reason offered to hide real motives, while pretense is the broader act of faking.
- facade
- Facade suggests a false outward appearance, often covering something hidden.
- charade
- Charade suggests an obvious, elaborate pretending that fools nobody.
- affectation
- Affectation is an artificial manner adopted to impress, usually about style or speech.
Opposites
Word family
- pretend verb
- to act as if something is true when it is not
- pretender noun
- someone who claims a title or role without right
- pretentious adjective
- trying to seem more important or cultured than you are
- pretension noun
- a claim to importance or quality
Commonly confused: pretense or pretence?
pretense vs pretence
Pretence is the British spelling of pretense, with the same meaning.
Practice
The visitor gained entry to the office under the ___ of repairing the printer.
Choose one answer.
Under the pretense of is the fixed pattern meaning with a false excuse. Pretext of repeats the preposition and is not grammatical here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pretense”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.