Synonyms for pretense
prɪˈtɛns, ˈpri tɛnspre·tense

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. pretensenoun

   Synonyms:
   deception, fiction, subterfuge, pretext, sham, escape, affectation, imitation

2. pretensenoun

   A false or hypocritical profession, as, under pretense of friendliness.

   Synonyms:
   affectation, pretext, fiction, subterfuge, sham, escape, imitation, deception

3. pretensenoun

   Intention or purpose not real but professed.

   without pretense of accuracy

   Synonyms:
   deception, sham, imitation, subterfuge, affectation, pretext, fiction, escape

4. pretensenoun

   An unsupported claim made or implied.

   Synonyms:
   imitation, fiction, deception, sham, affectation, pretext, subterfuge, escape

5. pretensenoun

   An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.

   Synonyms:
   deception, escape, subterfuge, pretext, fiction, imitation, sham, affectation

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. pretense

   A pretense, in the unfavorable, which is also the usual sense, is something advanced or displayed for the purpose of concealing the reality. A person makes a pretense of something for the credit or advantage to be gained by it; he makes what is allowed or approved a pretext for doing what would be opposed or condemned; a tricky schoolboy makes a pretense of doing an errand which he does not do, or he makes the actual doing of an errand a pretext for playing truant. A ruse is something (especially something slight or petty) employed to blind or deceive so as to mask an ulterior design, and enable a person to gain some end that he would not be allowed to approach directly. A pretension is a claim that is or may be contested; the word is now commonly used in an unfavorable sense. Compare ARTIFICE; HYPOCRISY.

   Synonyms:
   affectation, air, assumption, cloak, color, disguise, dissimulation, excuse, mask, pretension, pretext, ruse, seeming, semblance, show, simulation, subterfuge, trick, wile

   Antonyms:
   actuality, candor, fact, frankness, guilelessness, honesty, ingenuousness, openness, reality, simplicity, sincerity, truth

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. pretense, pretence, pretending, simulation, feigningnoun

   the act of giving a false appearance

   "his conformity was only pretending"

   Synonyms:
   pretending, pretence, pretext, pretension, guise, feigning, computer simulation, make-believe, simulation, model, dissembling

2. pretense, pretence, feigning, dissemblingnoun

   pretending with intention to deceive

   Synonyms:
   dissimulation, pretending, deceit, pretence, pretext, pretension, guise, feigning, make-believe, simulation, deception, dissembling

3. pretense, pretence, make-believenoun

   imaginative intellectual play

   Synonyms:
   pretend, pretending, pretence, pretext, pretension, guise, feigning, make-believe, simulation, dissembling

4. pretension, pretense, pretencenoun

   a false or unsupportable quality

   Synonyms:
   largeness, pretending, pretence, pretext, simulation, pretension, feigning, pretentiousness, make-believe, guise, dissembling

5. guise, pretense, pretence, pretextnoun

   an artful or simulated semblance

   "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them"

   Synonyms:
   pretending, pretence, pretext, simulation, pretension, feigning, guise, make-believe, stalking-horse, dissembling

Matched Categories

1. • Imagination
   • Semblance

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. pretensenoun

   Synonyms:
   assumption, claim, pretension, simulation, affectation, pretext, feint, subterfuge

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "pretense":

   pretext, comedy

Suggested Resources

1. Pretense

   Pretence vs. Pretense -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Pretence and Pretense.

How to pronounce pretense?

How to say pretense in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use pretense in a sentence?

1. Di Carlo:

   We think that was a pretense to harass her.

2. Henry Louis Mencken:

   Whenever A annoys or injures B on the pretense of saving or improving X, A is a scoundrel.

3. John Calvin:

   The Fanaticism which discards the Scripture, under the pretense of resorting to immediate revelations is subversive of every principle of Christianity. For when they boast extravagantly of the Spirit, the tendency is always to bury the Word of God so they may make room for their own falsehoods.

4. Senator Richard Blumenthal:

   A public health crisis cannot be a pretense to pave over our privacy laws or legitimize tech companies' intrusive data collection about American's personal lives.

5. Thomas Jefferson:

   I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.