- [uncountable, singular] the act of behaving in a particular way, in order to make other people believe something that is not true
- Their friendliness was only pretence.
- pretence of doing something By the end of the evening she had abandoned all pretence of being interested.
- pretence of something He made no pretence of great musical knowledge.
- pretence that… She was unable to keep up the pretence that she loved him.
Extra Examples- There is not even the slightest pretence of trying to make it realistic.
- He was hanged without even the pretence of a proper trial.
- I don't know how long I can keep up this pretence of happiness.
- She abandoned all pretence of neutrality and began to cheer.
- His pretence at friendliness fooled no one.
- It was all an elaborate pretence.
- Now that the pretence was over, he could tell them what he really thought.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- elaborate
- flimsy
- slight
- …
- keep up
- maintain
- sustain
- …
- be over
- under the pretence of
- pretence at
- pretence of
- …
- abandon all pretence
- abandon any pretence
- make a pretence
- …
- [uncountable, countable, usually singular] (formal or literary) a claim that you have a particular quality or skill
- pretence (to something) A judge should have at least some pretence to objectivity.
- pretence (to doing something) I make no pretence to being an expert on the subject.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French pretense, based on medieval Latin pretensus ‘pretended’, alteration of Latin praetentus, from the verb praetendere ‘stretch forth, claim’, from prae ‘before’ + tendere ‘stretch’.
Idioms
See pretence in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishby/under/on false pretences
- by pretending to be something that you are not, in order to gain some advantage for yourself
- She was accused of obtaining money under false pretences.
Check pronunciation:
pretence