pretense meaning and definition

PRETENSE noun

Definition of pretense (noun)

1. the act of giving a false appearance
   • "his conformity was only pretending"
   • synonyms: feigning, pretence, pretending, simulation
2. pretending with intention to deceive
   • synonyms: dissembling, feigning, pretence
3. imaginative intellectual play
   • synonyms: make-believe, pretence
4. a false or unsupportable quality
   • synonyms: pretence, pretension
5. an artful or simulated semblance
   • "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them"
   • synonyms: guise, pretence, pretext