pretense

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Anglo-French, from unattested Medieval Latin praetēnsa, noun use of feminine of praetēnsus, past participle (replacing Latin praetentus ) of praetendere “to put forward, stretch forth, pretend”; see origin at pretend

OTHER WORDS FROM pretense

pre·tense·ful, adjectivepre·tense·less, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pretense

pretense , pretext

Words nearby pretense

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

How to use pretense in a sentence

Stewart also pleaded guilty to collecting about $261,000 on false pretenses from another small business loan program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which provides low-interest financing to struggling small businesses during disasters.
Contractor Who Was Awarded $34.5 Million in Government Money and Provided Zero Masks Pleads Guilty to Fraud|by J. David McSwane|February 3, 2021|ProPublica
Sometimes they would send a target an infected file under the pretense of collaborating on vulnerability research.
Google outs suspected North Korean hackers|Robert Hackett|January 26, 2021|Fortune
It had a lot of joy because there was not a lot of pretense.
America doesn’t need inaugural balls. But there’s something lost when they disappear.|Roxanne Roberts|January 19, 2021|Washington Post
The Republican Party has proved that its hatred of liberals is so foundational that it will abandon any pretense of commitment to democracy, if democracy allows for the possibility that liberals might win an election.
Hatred of liberals is all that’s left of conservatism|Paul Waldman|December 11, 2020|Washington Post

We’ve dropped the pretense that this is not a looks-based profession.
‘Take off your mask’: Boorish customers have found a way to make sexual harassment even more of a hazard|Monica Hesse|December 10, 2020|Washington Post
In Iraq and Syria, unlike in Libya, there is no pretense that this is anything less than war in the constitutional sense.
Who Gets to Decide When We Go to War?|Deborah Pearlstein|September 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We would perhaps be tossing out any pretense of traditional baseball in exchange for popular thrill-a-minute spectacle.
Can Baseball’s All-Star Game Be Saved?|Peter C. Bjarkman|July 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They are winning incremental battles under the pretense of health regulations and parental consent.
Ten Reasons Women Are Losing While Gays Keep Winning|Jay Michaelson|July 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is not even the pretense of actual interaction with voters.
Good Riddance to Steve Stockman, the Grifter Congressman Who Ran for Senate|Ben Jacobs|March 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All along, Orman never made any pretense about her sexuality.
Can Suze Orman Save America?|Adam Auriemma|November 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
After long delays Crane and Keith made pretense of building camps and starting to log.
Scattergood Baines|Clarence Budington Kelland
No one who makes any pretense of seeing England will miss either of these places.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy
Come, Peter Snooks, to the dog that was never far out of sight, well at least make a pretense of being useful.
Those Dale Girls|Frank Weston Carruth
What oceans of futility one discovered, what mountains of pretense—and with what forests of scholarship grown over them!
Love's Pilgrimage|Upton Sinclair
Ruth always suspected that Uncle Jabez Potter made a pretense of being really worse than he was.
Ruth Fielding At College|Alice B. Emerson

pretense

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Origin of pretense

OTHER WORDS FROM pretense

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How to use pretense in a sentence