Pretense vs. Pretence
Pretense and Pretence Definitions
Pretense
A false appearance or action intended to deceive
"He ran the back of his hand up her cheek, with the pretense of wiping away sweat" (Jonathan Safran Foer).
Pretence
Variant of pretense.
Pretense
A professed but feigned reason or excuse; a pretext
Left the room under the pretense of having to make a phone call.
Pretence
(British spelling) An act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext.
Pretense
Something imagined or pretended
"Ardor had atrophied and weariness had taken its place ... their connection was pretense" (Deborah Weisgall).
Pretence
Something asserted or alleged on slight evidence; an unwarranted assumption.
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Pretense
The quality or state of being pretentious; ostentation
So modest as to be free from any hint of pretense.
Pretence
(obsolete) Intention; design.
Pretense
A false or studied show; an affectation
Models making a pretense of nonchalance.
Pretence
See Pretense, Pretenseful, Pretenseless.
Pretense
A claim or assertion to a right, especially a false one
"a celebrity with scarcely any pretense to talent or achievement" (Joseph Epstein).
Pretence
A false or unsupportable quality
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Pretense
(US) A false or hypocritical profession
Under pretense of friendliness
Pretence
An artful or simulated semblance;
Under the guise of friendship he betrayed them
Pretense
Intention or purpose not real but professed.
With only a pretense of accuracy
Pretence
Pretending with intention to deceive
Pretense
An unsupported claim made or implied.
Pretence
Imaginative intellectual play
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Pretense
An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.
Pretence
The act of giving a false appearance;
His conformity was only pretending
Pretense
The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension.
Primogeniture can not have any pretense to a right of solely inheriting property or power.
I went to Lambeth with Sir R. Brown's pretense to the wardenship of Merton College, Oxford.
Pretense
The act of holding out, or offering, to others something false or feigned; presentation of what is deceptive or hypocritical; deception by showing what is unreal and concealing what is real; false show; simulation; as, pretense of illness; under pretense of patriotism; on pretense of revenging Cæsar's death.
Pretense
That which is pretended; false, deceptive, or hypocritical show, argument, or reason; pretext; feint.
Let not the Trojans, with a feigned pretenseOf proffered peace, delude the Latian prince.
Pretense
Intention; design.
A very pretense and purpose of unkindness.
Pretense
The act of giving a false appearance;
His conformity was only pretending
Pretense
Pretending with intention to deceive
Pretense
Imaginative intellectual play
Pretense
A false or unsupportable quality
Pretense
An artful or simulated semblance;
Under the guise of friendship he betrayed them
