What does pretence mean?
Definitions for pretence
pre·tence
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word pretence.
Princeton's WordNet
pretension, pretense, pretencenoun
a false or unsupportable quality
guise, pretense, pretence, pretextnoun
an artful or simulated semblance
"under the guise of friendship he betrayed them"
pretense, pretence, feigning, dissemblingnoun
pretending with intention to deceive
pretense, pretence, make-believenoun
imaginative intellectual play
pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigningnoun
the act of giving a false appearance
"his conformity was only pretending"
Wiktionary
pretencenoun
An act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext.
Etymology: From pretensse, from praetensus (past participle of praetendere, prae- + tendere).
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Pretencenoun
Etymology: prætensus, Lat.
This pretence against religion will not only be baffled, but we shall gain a new argument to persuade men over. John Tillotson.
With flying speed and seeming great pretence
Came running in a messenger. Fairy Queen.So strong his appetite was to those executions he had been accustom’d to in Ireland, without any kind of commission or pretence of authority. Edward Hyde.
O worthy not of liberty alone,
Too mean pretence, but honour. Philip Miller.Let not the Trojans, with a feign’d pretence
Of proffer’d peace, delude the Latian prince. Dryden.I should have dressed the whole with greater care; but I had little time, which I am sure you know to be more than pretence. William Wake, Preparation for Death.
Despise not these few ensuing pages; for never was any thing of this pretence more ingenuously imparted. John Evelyn.
Spirits in our just pretences arm’d
Fell with us. John Milton.Primogeniture cannot have any pretence to a right of solely inheriting property or power. John Locke.
I have conceived a most faint neglect of late, which I have rather blamed as my own jealous curiosity, than as a very pretence and purpose of unkindness. William Shakespeare.
In the great hand of God I stand, and thence
Against the undivulg’d pretence I fight
Of treas’nous malice. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.He hath writ this to feel my affection for your honour, and to no other pretence of danger. William Shakespeare, King Lear.
ChatGPT
pretence
Pretence is an act of pretending or making something appear to be true when it is not. It often refers to a claim or assertion that is false or an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true, often done in order to deceive or mislead others. It can also refer to the act of behaving in a certain way in order to make others believe something.
Webster Dictionary
Pretenceadjective
alt. of Pretenceless
Pretencenoun
the act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension
Pretencenoun
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 Caesar's death
Pretencenoun
that which is pretended; false, deceptive, or hypocritical show, argument, or reason; pretext; feint
Pretencenoun
intention; design
Suggested Resources
Pretence
Pretence vs. Pretense -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Pretence and Pretense.
Matched Categories
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of pretence in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of pretence in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of pretence in a Sentence
Jealousy, that dragon which slays love under the pretence of keeping it alive.
Friends make pretence of following to the grave but before one is in it, their minds are turned and making the best of their way back to life and living people and things they understand.
The pious pretence that evil does not exist only makes it vague, enormous and menacing.
People do not relate to softness anymore - in talk or under the guise of misunderstanding - they seem satisfied when they have proved to themselves that softness was feigned or blatant pretence and they were right in thinking hard and ugly thoughts of sarcasm, spite or other hurtful intentions
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness:
The conquest of the earth... is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. What redeems it is the idea only... not a sentimental pretence but an idea.
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Translations for pretence
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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"pretence." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/pretence>.
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