What is another word for pretension?
Synonyms for pretension
prɪˈtɛn ʃənpre·ten·sion
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word pretension.
English Synonyms and Antonyms
pretension
A pretense, in the unfavorable, which is also the 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 (especially something slight or petty) 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. Compare ARTIFICE; HYPOCRISY.
Synonyms:
affectation, air, assumption, cloak, color, disguise, dissimulation, excuse, mask, pretense, pretext, ruse, seeming, semblance, show, simulation, subterfuge, trick, wileAntonyms:
actuality, candor, fact, frankness, guilelessness, honesty, ingenuousness, openness, reality, simplicity, sincerity, truth
Princeton's WordNet
pretension, pretense, pretencenoun
a false or unsupportable quality
Synonyms:
largeness, pretending, pretence, pretext, simulation, pretense, feigning, pretentiousness, make-believe, guise, dissemblingpretensionnoun
the advancing of a claim
"his pretension to the crown"; "the town still puts forward pretensions as a famous resort"
Synonyms:
pretentiousness, largeness, pretense, pretencepretentiousness, pretension, largenessnoun
the quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth)
Synonyms:
breadth, puffiness, comprehensiveness, pretence, pomposity, extensiveness, pretense, largeness, pretentiousness, ostentation, inflation, splashiness, bigness, ostentatiousness, pompousness
Matched Categories
Dictionary of English Synonymes
pretensionnoun
pretensionnoun
Synonyms:
show, assumption, profession, PRETENCE, make-believepretensionnoun
Synonyms:
conceit, pretentiousness, pertness, priggery
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#268 | show | |
#478 | air | |
#696 | color | |
#4317 | simulation | |
#5519 | mask | |
#6943 | inflation | |
#7150 | assumption | |
#7167 | trick | |
#8557 | excuse | |
#16551 | breadth | |
#21091 | disguise | |
#21182 | cloak | |
#22910 | pretending | |
#27184 | seeming | |
#30656 | guise | |
#35820 | pretext | |
#43818 | ruse | |
#47547 | semblance | |
#48205 | pretense | |
#63007 | wile | |
#63572 | pretence | |
#70507 | comprehensiveness | |
#79016 | subterfuge | |
#87946 | affectation | |
#88030 | pretension | |
#105408 | feigning | |
#110233 | puffiness | |
#118932 | ostentation | |
#148956 | bigness | |
#164845 | pomposity | |
#169441 | dissembling | |
#175168 | pretentiousness | |
#176365 | dissimulation | |
#189976 | largeness | |
#265291 | extensiveness |
Translations for pretension
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- ادعاءArabic
- prétensionFrench
- aanmatiging, pretentieDutch
- pretensãoPortuguese
- pretenție, pretențiozitateRomanian
Get even more translations for pretension »
Translation
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"pretension." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 10 Feb. 2025. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/pretension>.
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