1. The act of giving a false appearance
   "his conformity was only pretence";
   - pretense [N. Amer], pretending, simulation
    
2. Pretending with intention to deceive
   "His pretence of innocence fooled no one";
   - pretense [N. Amer], dissembling
    
3. An artful or simulated semblance
   "under the pretence of friendship he betrayed them";
   - guise, pretense [N. Amer], pretext
    
4. A false or unsupportable quality
   "Her pretence of ignorance fooled no one"; "His pretence to nobility was quickly exposed as a lie";
   - pretension, pretense [N. Amer]
    
5. Imaginative intellectual play
   "His pretence of ignorance fooled no one";
   - pretense [N. Amer], make-believe
    
6. The quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth)
   "His pretence of expertise fooled no one";
   - pretentiousness, pretension, largeness, pretense [N. Amer]

Derived forms: pretences

Type of: artificiality, color [US], colour [Brit, Cdn], deceit, deception, dissembling, dissimulation, gloss, imagery, imagination, imaging, mental imagery, misrepresentation, semblance, unnaturalness

Encyclopedia: Pretence