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Meaning of pretense in English
Pronunciation
/ˈpriˌtɛns/
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Noun
pretense
Etymology
late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French pretense, based on medieval Latin pretensus‘pretended’, alteration of Latin praetentus, from the verb praetendere (see pretend)
Definitions
1.
the act of giving a false appearance
Examples
« his conformity was only pretending »
2.
pretending with intention to deceive
3.
imaginative intellectual play
4.
a false or unsupportable quality
5.
an artful or simulated semblance
Examples
« under the guise of friendship he betrayed them »