pretence

pre·tence  (prtns, pr-tns)

n. Chiefly British

Variant of pretense.

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pretence US, pretense [prɪˈtɛns]

n

1. the act of pretending

2. a false display; affectation

3. a claim, esp a false one, to a right, title, or distinction

4. make-believe or feigning

5. a false claim or allegation; pretext

6. a less common word for pretension [3]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	pretence - a false or unsupportable quality pretension, pretense artificiality - the quality of being produced by people and not occurring naturally
	2.	pretence - an artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them" guise, pretext, pretense semblance, gloss, color, colour - an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading; "he hoped his claims would have a semblance of authenticity"; "he tried to give his falsehood the gloss of moral sanction"; "the situation soon took on a different color"
	3.	pretence - pretending with intention to deceive dissembling, feigning, pretense deception, misrepresentation, deceit - a misleading falsehood bluff - pretense that your position is stronger than it really is; "his bluff succeeded in getting him accepted" 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
	4.	pretence - imaginative intellectual play         make-believe, pretense imagery, imaging, mental imagery, imagination - the ability to form mental images of things or events; "he could still hear her in his imagination"
	5.	pretence - the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was only pretending" pretending, pretense, feigning, simulation dissimulation, deception, dissembling, deceit - the act of deceiving show, appearance - pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression; "they try to keep up appearances"; "that ceremony is just for show" pretend, make-believe - the enactment of a pretense; "it was just pretend" affectation, affectedness, mannerism, pose - a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display masquerade - making a false outward show; "a beggar's masquerade of wealth"

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pretence

noun

1. deception, invention, sham, fabrication, acting, faking, simulation, deceit, feigning, charade, make-believe, trickery, falsehood, subterfuge, fakery struggling to keep up the pretence that all was well
deception honesty, openness, candour, frankness, ingenuousness

2. show, posturing, artifice, affectation, display, appearance, posing, façade, veneer, pretentiousness, hokum (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.) She was completely without guile or pretence.
show fact, reality, actuality

3. pretext, claim, excuse, show, cover, mask, veil, cloak, guise, façade, masquerade, semblance, ruse, garb, wile He claimed the police beat him up under the pretence that he was resisting arrest.

4. claim, profession, aspiration We have never made any pretence to be faithful to each other.

Translations

pretence pretense (US) [prɪˈtens] N

1. (= make-believe) → fingimiento m, simulación f
to make a pretence of doing sth → fingir hacer algo
it's all a pretence → todo es fingido

2. (= claim) → pretensión f
to make no pretence to learning → no pretender ser erudito

3. (= pretext) → pretexto m
on or under the pretence of doing sth → so pretexto de hacer algo
see also false A2

4. (= display) → ostentación f
without pretence; devoid of all pretence → sin ostentación

pretence [prɪˈtɛns] pretense (US) n

(= show, make-believe) → semblant f
to make a pretence of doing sth → faire semblant de faire qch
pretence at sth → prétention à qch
pretence at doing sth → prétention à faire qch
to abandon any pretence of sth → abandonner tout semblant de qch
to be a pretence → n'être qu'un simulacre
It had all been a pretence → Tout cela n'avait été qu'un simulacre.

(= claim) → prétention f
pretence to sth → prétention à qch
to make no pretence to doing sth → ne pas prétendre faire qch
He made no pretence to being a strategist → Il ne prétendait pas être un stratège.

(= pretext) → prétexte m
on the pretence of doing sth → sous prétexte de faire qch
under the pretence of doing sth → sous prétexte de faire qch

(= affectation) she is devoid of all pretence → elle n'est pas du tout prétentieuse

pretence, (US) pretense

n

(= make-believe story) → erfundene Geschichte; (= make-believe person) → erfundene Gestalt; he didn’t really shoot me, it was just pretence → er hat nicht auf mich geschossen, er hat nur so getan; we soon saw through his pretence of being a foreigner → wir durchschauten bald, dass er nur vorspiegelte or vorgab, Ausländer zu sein; to make a pretence of doing something → so tun, als ob man etw tut; he made not even the slightest pretence of being interested → er gab sich (dat) → nicht einmal den Anschein des Interesses; this constant pretence that all is well → die ständige Vorspiegelung, dass alles in Ordnung ist; to maintain a pretence of democracy → den (An)schein einer Demokratie wahren; it’s all a pretence → das ist alles nur gespielt or Mache (inf)

(= feigning, insincerity) → Heuchelei f, → Verstellung f; his coolness is just (a) pretence → seine Kühle ist nur gespielt; his pretence of normality → seine vorgespiegelte Normalität; he made a pretence of friendship → er heuchelte Freundschaft, er gab Freundschaft vor; let’s stop all this pretence → hören wir mit der Heuchelei auf, hören wir auf, uns (dat) → etwas vorzumachen; he is incapable of pretence → er kann sich nicht verstellen

(= affectation) → Unnatürlichkeit f, → Geziertheit f

to make no pretence to something → keinen Anspruch auf etw (acc) → erheben

(= pretext, excuse) → Vorwand m; on or under the pretence of doing something → unter dem Vorwand, etw zu tun ? false ADJ a

pretence pretense (Am) [prɪˈtɛns] n

a. his pretence of innocence/sympathy → la sua finta or falsa innocenza/comprensione
she is devoid of all pretence → non si nasconde dietro false apparenze
to make a pretence of doing sth → far finta di fare qc
it's all (a) pretence → è tutta una finta, è tutta scena

b. (claim) → pretesa

c. (pretext) → pretesto, scusa
on or under the pretence of doing sth → con il pretesto or la scusa di fare qc
under false pretences → con l'inganno