n. 1
The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation.
He visited the king under the pretense of friendliness.
n. 2
Affectation or ostentation of manner.
She was a plain-speaking woman without a hint of pretense.
n. 3
Intention or purpose not real but professed.
with only a pretense of accuracy

Related words

Word family: pretend pretender pretension pretentiosity pretentious pretentiousness
Phrases: false pretense
Other spellings: pretence UK

Forms

Plural: pretenses → pretexts, subterfuges, excuses, guises…

Choose the right word

Pretense or Hypocrisy?

Hypocrisy is the false pretense of moral excellence, either as a cover for actual wrong, or for the sake of the credit and advantage attaching to virtue.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

excuse Excuse me, but where is the men's shoe department?
guise Life's aspirations come in the guise of children.
pretext You're just looking for a pretext to get rid of me.
subterfuge I apologize for the subterfuge.
sham This sham election is a disgrace to democracy.
feigning How do you know that the patient is not feigning illness?

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
pretense		rising
excuse		rising
guise		steady
pretext		steady
subterfuge		steady
sham		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: air¹, act¹
4 letters: show¹, mask¹, veil¹, sham¹
5 letters: claim¹, color², trick¹, blind¹, cloak¹, guise¹, gloss¹, feint¹
6 letters: excuse², colour², facade², deceit²
7 letters: fiction², seeming², pretext²
8 letters: disguise², feigning²
9 letters: hypocrisy⁴, deception³, imitation⁴, semblance²
10 letters: appearance³, pretending³, simulation⁴, subterfuge³, pretension³
11 letters: fabrication⁴, affectation⁴, dissembling³
13 letters: dissimulation

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (color² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: faux-semblant