Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British Variant of pretense.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See pretense.
Wiktionary
- n. British An act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext.
GNU Webster's 1913
- See pretense, pretenseful, pretenseless.
WordNet 3.0
- n. pretending with intention to deceive
- n. imaginative intellectual play
- n. a false or unsupportable quality
- n. an artful or simulated semblance
- n. the act of giving a false appearance
Etymologies
- From Middle French pretensse, from Late Latin praetensus (prætensus) (past participle of praetendere (prætendere), prae- (præ-) + tendere). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“WORDS ACCENTED ON THE LAST SYLLABLE: address _address'_ adept _adept'_ adult _adult'_ ally _ally'_ commandant _commandänt '(ä as in arm) _ contour _contour'_ dessert _dessert'_ dilate _dilate'_ excise _eksiz'_ finance _finance'_ grimace _grimace'_ importune _importune'_ occult _occult'_ pretence _pretence'_ research _research'_ robust _robust'_ romance _romance'_ tirade _tirade'_”
“Image/pretence is everything. on April 24, 2008 at 9: 34 am | Reply Dan”
It’s Official - We Have Gone Insane! « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG
“The pretence is to negotiate; the purpose is to separate.”
“Theres a bad kind, where the pretence is instead of the real thing, as when a man pretends hes going to help you instead of really helping you.”
“The wary servant, seeing that he was watched, turned to the wall, under a certain pretence, tore his letters into the smallest possible pieces, and threw them behind the door.”
“Or when they came to enquire of the prophet they pretended to put away their idols, but it was in pretence only; they still had a secret reserve for them.”
“Note, the sincere and serious beggars at Christ's door commonly meet with the worst rebukes from those that follow him but in pretence and hypocrisy.”
“The former was, in pretence, the latter was, in truth, at the bottom of this tradition.”
“Naturally, that is, sincerely, and not in pretence only: with a willing heart and upright view, so agreeably to the make of his mind.”
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation)
“What reward can those expect who preach Christ out of strife, and envy, and contention, and to add affliction to a faithful minister's bonds? who preach in pretence, and not in truth?”
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation)
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pretence’.
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UK Usage - Find US Equivalent
All these terms have a (different) American English equivalent. Wonder if you can identify them?
abridgement (abri..., accoutrement, accoutre, acknowledgement (..., opposite, advert, adaptor, adapter, sticking plaster, advertise, adviser (advisor ..., adze, aesthete and 1196 more...
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English British pronunciation
Differences betwen brithish and American english spelling or pronunciation.
centre, center, fibre, fiber, litre, liter, theatre, theater, colour, color, flavour, flavor and 18 more...
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Monovocalics
Words that have only one of the vowels. On this list I include only words with at least three vowels. When I first started the list, if a word had several forms, I generally listed only the one wit...
syzygy, mirific, cumulus, homolog, monocot, bedewed, jezebel, referee, bikini, minikin, locomotor, terebenthene and 2359 more...
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Pneumatologia
Terms and phrases from John Owen's (1616-1683) theological writings, to some of which the collective title Pneumatologia has been posthumously applied. Some few of the terms listed herein are Septu...
superstruction, despond, Socinians, unbeholden, unwarrantable, ulcerous, posthume, Photinians, Pelagians, virulently, unavoidably, putid and 221 more...
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dickensian
commodious, unaccommodating, curtseyed, conviction, crockery, trousers, obtrusive, irascible, considerable, circumstance, ought, establishment and 53 more...
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