pretence
noun
[ prɪˈtɛns ]
• an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true.
• "his anger is masked by a pretence that all is well"
Similar:
make-believe,
act,
putting on an act,
acting,
dissembling,
shamming,
sham,
faking,
feigning,
simulation,
falsification,
dissimulation,
invention,
imagination,
self-deception,
play-acting,
posturing,
posture,
posing,
pose,
cant,
attitudinizing,
deception,
deceit,
deceitfulness,
fraud,
hoax,
fraudulence,
fabrication,
duplicity,
artifice,
subterfuge,
treachery,
trickery,
dishonesty,
hypocrisy,
falsity,
lying,
mendacity,
lack of veracity,
false colours,
kidology,
simulacrum,
pretext,
false excuse,
guise,
ruse,
wile,
lie,
falsehood,
• a claim to have a particular skill or quality.
• "he was quick to disclaim any pretence to superiority"
Origin:
late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French pretense, based on medieval Latin pretensus ‘pretended’, alteration of Latin praetentus, from the verb praetendere (see pretend).
