pretence
Americannoun
noun
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the act of pretending
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a false display; affectation
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a claim, esp a false one, to a right, title, or distinction
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make-believe or feigning
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a false claim or allegation; pretext
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a less common word for pretension
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Pretence and authenticity are subjects that White spends a lot of time thinking about.
From The Guardian • Jun. 1, 2014
Furthermore, in the popular mind, it was the dispute over trading privileges on the West African coast which "became the Occasion, at least the Popular Pretence of the war with Holland."
From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 4, 1919 by Various
Men always had, and ever will, Pretence, At least with Method, to improve our Sense: And the last Laws, however just or true, Must give the Palm to such which are more new.
From The Art of Architecture A Poem In Imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry by Anonymous
Egad, I find all Women make Pretence to that mysterious Word.
From The Perjur'd Husband by Centlivre, Susanna
But this Pretence won't serve to save his Life; I'll not be caught again——No, Syren, no.
From The Perjur'd Husband by Centlivre, Susanna
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
