Definition of PRETENSE

pretense

Meanings

Plural: pretenses

Noun

  • the act of giving a false appearance
  • pretending with intention to deceive
  • imaginative intellectual play
  • a false or unsupportable quality
  • an artful or simulated semblance
  • The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation.
  • Affectation or ostentation of manner.
  • Intention or purpose not real but professed.
  • An unsupported claim made or implied.
  • An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.
  • Intention; design.

Origin / 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.

Synonyms

affectation denotes deception for the sake of escape from punishment, an awkward situation, dissembling, false pretense, feigning, fiction, guise, imitation, make-believe, pretence, pretending, pretension, pretext, sham, simulation, subterfuge

Scrabble Score: 10

pretense is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
pretense is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pretense is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

pretense is a valid Words With Friends word