PRETENCE

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pretence mean? 

• PRETENCE (noun)
  The noun PRETENCE has 5 senses:

1. a false or unsupportable quality
2. an artful or simulated semblance
3. pretending with intention to deceive
4. imaginative intellectual play
5. the act of giving a false appearance

  Familiarity information: PRETENCE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRETENCE (noun)

Meaning:

A false or unsupportable quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

pretension; pretence; pretense

Hypernyms ("pretence" is a kind of...):

artificiality (the quality of being produced by people and not occurring naturally)

Meaning:

An artful or simulated semblance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

guise; pretence; pretext; pretense

Context example:

under the guise of friendship he betrayed them

Hypernyms ("pretence" is a kind of...):

color; colour; gloss; semblance (an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading)

Meaning:

Pretending with intention to deceive

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

dissembling; feigning; pretense; pretence

Hypernyms ("pretence" is a kind of...):

deceit; deception; misrepresentation (a misleading falsehood)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pretence"):

bluff (pretense that your position is stronger than it really is)

pretext; stalking-horse (something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason)

hypocrisy; lip service (an expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction)

Meaning:

Imaginative intellectual play

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

make-believe; pretense; pretence

Hypernyms ("pretence" is a kind of...):

imagery; imagination; imaging; mental imagery (the ability to form mental images of things or events)

Meaning:

The act of giving a false appearance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

pretending; pretense; feigning; simulation; pretence

Context example:

his conformity was only pretending

Hypernyms ("pretence" is a kind of...):

deceit; deception; dissembling; dissimulation (the act of deceiving)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pretence"):

appearance; show (pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression)

make-believe; pretend (the enactment of a pretense)

affectation; affectedness; mannerism; pose (a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display)

masquerade (making a false outward show)