"pretense" meaning in English

See pretense in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈpɹiːtɛns/ Audio: en-us-pretense.ogg Forms: pretenses [plural]
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French pretensse, from Late Latin praetēnsus, past participle of Latin praetendō (“to pretend”), from prae- (“before”) + tendō (“to stretch”); see pretend. Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*tend-|id=stretch}}, {{bor|en|frm|pretensse}} Middle French pretensse, {{der|en|LL.|praetēnsus}} Late Latin praetēnsus, {{der|en|la|praetendō|t=to pretend}} Latin praetendō (“to pretend”) Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} pretense (countable and uncountable, plural pretenses)
  1. (US) A false or hypocritical assertion, implication, or representation. Tags: US, countable, uncountable Translations (false or hypocritical profession): πρόφασις (próphasis) [feminine] (Ancient Greek), σκῆψις (skêpsis) [feminine] (Ancient Greek), ذريعة (Arabic), předstírání [neuter] (Czech), Vortäuschung [feminine] (German), Vorspiegelung [feminine] (German), Vortäuschen [neuter] (German), Anschein [masculine] (German), Heucheln [neuter] (German), cur i gcéill [masculine] (Irish), praetextum [neuter] (Latin), قولپ (kulp) (Ottoman Turkish), притво́рство (pritvórstvo) [neuter] (Russian), अपदेश (apadeśa) [masculine] (Sanskrit), giả tạo (Vietnamese)
    Sense id: en-pretense-en-noun-HQdJsN8C Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Terms with Ancient Greek translations, Terms with Arabic translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Irish translations, Terms with Latin translations, Terms with Ottoman Turkish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Sanskrit translations, Terms with Vietnamese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 8 9 33 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 43 18 19 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Ancient Greek translations: 50 12 12 26 Disambiguation of Terms with Arabic translations: 55 11 12 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 59 11 10 20 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 43 16 17 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 60 10 10 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Latin translations: 50 14 14 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Ottoman Turkish translations: 55 12 13 20 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 50 14 14 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Sanskrit translations: 52 12 13 23 Disambiguation of Terms with Vietnamese translations: 56 11 12 21 Disambiguation of 'false or hypocritical profession': 85 9 2 4
  2. Intention or purpose not real but professed. Tags: US, countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-pretense-en-noun-kF93F0nw
  3. An unsupported claim made or implied. Tags: US, countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-pretense-en-noun-1XZPiRHq
  4. An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality. Tags: US, countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-pretense-en-noun-0loVptj~
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: affectation denotes deception for the sake of escape from punishment, an awkward situation, false pretense, fiction, imitation, pretext, sham, subterfuge, pretence [British], prætense [archaic] Related terms: pretend, pretender, pretension, pretentiosity, pretentious, pretentiousness

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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      "args": {
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    {
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    }
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  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Middle French pretensse, from Late Latin praetēnsus, past participle of Latin praetendō (“to pretend”), from prae- (“before”) + tendō (“to stretch”); see pretend.",
  "forms": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
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    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "pretentious"
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      "word": "pretentiousness"
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          "_dis": "56 11 12 21",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Vietnamese translations",
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "under pretense of friendliness",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A false or hypocritical assertion, implication, or representation."
      ],
      "id": "en-pretense-en-noun-HQdJsN8C",
      "links": [
        [
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        "(US) A false or hypocritical assertion, implication, or representation."
      ],
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        "countable",
        "uncountable"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "85 9 2 4",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
          "word": "ذريعة"
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          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
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          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "Anschein"
        },
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          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
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          "roman": "próphasis",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
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          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "cur i gcéill"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 9 2 4",
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "praetextum"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 9 2 4",
          "code": "ota",
          "lang": "Ottoman Turkish",
          "roman": "kulp",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
          "word": "قولپ"
        },
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          "_dis1": "85 9 2 4",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "pritvórstvo",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
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            "neuter"
          ],
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        },
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          "_dis1": "85 9 2 4",
          "code": "sa",
          "lang": "Sanskrit",
          "roman": "apadeśa",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
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            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "अपदेश"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 9 2 4",
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
          "word": "giả tạo"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "with only a pretense of accuracy"
        }
      ],
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        "Intention or purpose not real but professed."
      ],
      "id": "en-pretense-en-noun-kF93F0nw",
      "tags": [
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        "countable",
        "uncountable"
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    },
    {
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        "An unsupported claim made or implied."
      ],
      "id": "en-pretense-en-noun-1XZPiRHq",
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        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality."
      ],
      "id": "en-pretense-en-noun-0loVptj~",
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
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      "ipa": "/ˈpɹiːtɛns/"
    },
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      "audio": "en-us-pretense.ogg",
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "false pretense"
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "sham"
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "subterfuge"
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "tags": [
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      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
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  "wikipedia": [
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}
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    "Terms with Latin translations",
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      "word": "affectation denotes deception for the sake of escape from punishment"
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      "word": "an awkward situation"
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    {
      "word": "false pretense"
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    {
      "word": "fiction"
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    {
      "word": "imitation"
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    {
      "word": "sham"
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      "word": "subterfuge"
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      "word": "pretence"
    },
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      "code": "ar",
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      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "word": "ذريعة"
    },
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      "code": "cs",
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      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
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      "word": "Vortäuschung"
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      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Vorspiegelung"
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    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
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      ],
      "word": "Vortäuschen"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Anschein"
    },
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      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Heucheln"
    },
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      "roman": "próphasis",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "πρόφασις"
    },
    {
      "code": "grc",
      "lang": "Ancient Greek",
      "roman": "skêpsis",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "σκῆψις"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "cur i gcéill"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "praetextum"
    },
    {
      "code": "ota",
      "lang": "Ottoman Turkish",
      "roman": "kulp",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "word": "قولپ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "pritvórstvo",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "притво́рство"
    },
    {
      "code": "sa",
      "lang": "Sanskrit",
      "roman": "apadeśa",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "अपदेश"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "false or hypocritical profession",
      "word": "giả tạo"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "pretense"
  ],
  "word": "pretense"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (65a6e81 and 0dbea76). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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