pretender

[ pri-ten-der ]

/ prɪˈtɛn dər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pretender ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who pretends, especially for a dishonest purpose.

an aspirant or claimant (often followed by to): a pretender to the throne.

a person who makes unjustified or false claims, statements, etc., as about personal status, abilities, intentions, or the like: a pretender to literary genius.

Nearby words

pretax, preteen, pretence, pretend, pretended, pretender, pretense, pretension, pretensive, pretentious, preter-

Origin of pretender

First recorded in 1585–95; pretend + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pretender

And cancer, deceiver, pretender, coward; it cannot even subsist without the vibrant people it depends on.
No One Ever Loses to Cancer|Dushka Zapata|October 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All was jolly and genial between the king of late night and the pretender to the throne.
Stephen Colbert’s Groveling ‘Late Show’ Debut|Tom Shales|April 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rush Limbaugh has called Dede Scozzafava a “pretender” and an “extreme liberal Republican” who “might as well be a Democrat.”
The Last Days of the GOP|John Batchelor|October 30, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Was there not some funny story abroad of a Pretender to the Throne of France?
The Adventures of Harry Richmond, Complete|George Meredith

This is the twenty-fourth pretender of the species who has asserted that his father was the august victim of the Temple.
Burlesques|William Makepeace Thackeray
Is there any danger that the pretender shall be brought in upon us?
An Answer to a Question that Nobody thinks of, viz., But what if the Queen should Die?|Daniel Defoe
Certain it is, the pretender could not have chosen a more favourable opportunity for making a descent upon Scotland.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.|Tobias Smollett
I class him among what are popularly known as humbugs, however, for he is a pretender to more wisdom than he possesses.
The Humbugs of the World|P. T. Barnum

British Dictionary definitions for pretender

pretender

/ (prɪˈtɛndə) /

noun

a person who pretends or makes false allegations

a person who mounts a claim, as to a throne or title

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pretender

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of pretender

Examples from the Web for pretender

British Dictionary definitions for pretender

pretender

noun