Definition of: pretense

(pri·tens′, prē′tens) noun
1. That which is pretended; a pretext; a ruse or wile.
2. The act or state of pretending, or of being a pretender or claimant; specifically, a false assumption of a character or condition; hence, affectation; ostentation.
3. Any act of simulation.
4. A right or title asserted.
5. An intention, aim, or effort. Also Brit. pre·tence′. [<AF pretensse <Med. L praetensus, alter. of L praetentus, pp. of praetendere. See PRETEND.] Synonyms: affection, air, assumption, cloak, color, disguise, dissimulation, excuse, mask, pretension, pretext, ruse, seeming, semblance, show, simulation. A pretense, in the unfavorable and usual sense, is something advanced or displayed for the purpose of concealing the reality. A person makes a pretense of something for the credit or advantage to be gained by it; he makes what is allowed or approved a pretext for doing what would be opposed or condemned; a tricky schoolboy makes a pretense of doing an errand which he does not do, or he makes the actual doing of an errand a pretext for playing truant. A ruse is something employed to blind or deceive so as to mask an ulterior design, and enable a person to gain some end that he would not be allowed to approach directly. A pretension is a claim that is or may be contested; the word is now commonly used in an unfavorable sense. See DISGUISE, HYPOCRISY. Antonyms: actuality, candor, fact, guilelessness, honesty, ingenuousness, openness, reality, simplicity, sincerity, truth.