pretense

Noun

pretense (countable and uncountable, plural pretenses)

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.
   • "Lady Little", the title that she used, was just a pretense.
2. (uncountable) Affectation or ostentation of manner.
   • She was a plain-speaking woman without a hint of pretense.
3. Intention or purpose not real but professed.
   • with only a pretense of accuracy
4. An unsupported claim made or implied.
   • He was gentlemanly, steady, tractable, with a thorough knowledge of his duties; and in time, when yet very young, he became chief mate of a fine ship, without ever having been tested by those events of the sea that show in the light of day the inner worth of a man, the edge of his temper, and the...1899 September – 1900 July, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in Lord Jim: A Tale, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published 1900, →OCLC, page 9
   • They wished to demask hidden metaphysics, to demask the false pretenses of sentences purportively descriptive but de facto metaphysical or evaluative.1968, Gerard Radnitzky · · Snippet view, Contemporary Schools of Metascience, page 114
5. An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.
   • His visit was duly paid. He came with a pretence at an apology from their sister-in-law, for not coming too […]1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC
6. (obsolete) Intention; design.
   • A very pretence and purpose of unkindness.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...