pretense

noun/ˈpriːtɛns/

Frequency rank: #12,937 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

a false appearance or action intended to deceive others.

Illustration for the English word “pretense”

Example sentence

He kept up the pretense of being happy even though he was deeply sad inside.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 12,901–13,000