Definition of Pretence

1. Noun. A false or unsupportable quality.

Exact synonyms: Pretense, Pretension
Generic synonyms: Artificiality
Derivative terms: Pretend

2. Noun. An artful or simulated semblance. "Under the guise of friendship he betrayed them"
Exact synonyms: Guise, Pretense, Pretext
Generic synonyms: Color, Colour, Gloss, Semblance

3. Noun. Pretending with intention to deceive.
Exact synonyms: Dissembling, Feigning, Pretense
Generic synonyms: Deceit, Deception, Misrepresentation
Specialized synonyms: Bluff, Pretext, Stalking-horse, Hypocrisy, Lip Service
Derivative terms: Dissemble, Feign, Pretend, Pretentious

4. Noun. Imaginative intellectual play.
Exact synonyms: Make-believe, Pretense
Generic synonyms: Imagery, Imagination, Imaging, Mental Imagery
Derivative terms: Make-believe

5. Noun. The act of giving a false appearance. "His conformity was only pretending"

Definition of Pretence

1. n. See Pretense, Pretenseful, Pretenseless.

Definition of Pretence

1. Noun. (British spelling) An act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Pretence

1. pretense [n -S] - See also: pretense

Lexicographical Neighbors of Pretence

pretecta
pretectal
pretectum
preteen
preteenage
preteenager
preteenagers
preteens
pretelecast
pretelescopic
pretelevision
pretell
pretelling
pretells
pretemporal
pretence (current term)
pretenceless
pretences
pretend
pretendant
pretendants
pretended
pretendedly
pretendence
pretendences
pretender
pretenders
pretendership
pretenderships
pretendeth

Literary usage of Pretence

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Junius: Including Letters by the Same Writer, Under Other Signatures, (now by Junius (1813)
"... been employed by an unprincipled administration, under the pretence of assisting the civil power in carrying the sentence of the laws into execution. ..."

2. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by James George Frazer (1900)
"Perhaps this killing of the women, in which, however, lads who related to the pretence of killing young ..."

3. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1887)
"Under the pretence of private business, a minister of rank and confidence was secretly despatched to embrace the knees of Hor- ..."

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