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Definition of pretender - 4 dictionary results

pre⋅tend⋅er

  [pri-ten-der]
Use pretender in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who pretends, esp. for a dishonest purpose.
2. an aspirant or claimant (often fol. by to): a pretender to the throne.
3. a person who makes unjustified or false claims, statements, etc., as about personal status, abilities, intentions, or the like: a pretender to literary genius.
Origin:
1585–95; pretend + -er 1

pre⋅tend

  [pri-tend]
–verb (used with object)
1. to cause or attempt to cause (what is not so) to seem so: to pretend illness; to pretend that nothing is wrong.
2. to appear falsely, as to deceive; feign: to pretend to go to sleep.
3. to make believe: The children pretended to be cowboys.
4. to presume; venture: I can't pretend to say what went wrong.
5. to allege or profess, esp. insincerely or falsely: He pretended to have no knowledge of her whereabouts.
–verb (used without object)
6. to make believe.
7. to lay claim to (usually fol. by to): She pretended to the throne.
8. to make pretensions (usually fol. by to): He pretends to great knowledge.
9. Obsolete. to aspire, as a suitor or candidate (fol. by to).
–adjective
10. Informal. make-believe; simulated; counterfeit: pretend diamonds.
Origin:
1325–75; ME pretenden < L praetendere to stretch forth, put forward, pretend. See pre-, tend 1

Synonyms:
1. simulate, fake, sham, counterfeit. Pretend, affect, assume, feign imply an attempt to create a false appearance. To pretend is to create an imaginary characteristic or to play a part: to pretend sorrow. To affect is to make a consciously artificial show of having qualities that one thinks would look well and impress others: to affect shyness. To assume is to take on or put on a specific outward appearance, often (but not always) with intent to deceive: to assume an air of indifference. To feign implies using ingenuity in pretense, and some degree of imitation of appearance or characteristics: to feign surprise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To pretender
pre·tend·er   (prĭ-těn'dər)   
n.  

  1. One who simulates, pretends, or alleges falsely; a hypocrite or dissembler.

  2. One who sets forth a claim, especially a claimant to a throne.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pretend 
c.1380, "to profess or claim," from O.Fr. pretendre "to lay claim," from L. prætendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege," from præ- "before" + tendere "to stretch," from PIE base *ten- "to stretch" (see tend). Main modern sense of "feign, put forward a false claim" is recorded from 1412; the older sense of simply "to claim" is behind the string of royal pretenders (1697) in Eng. history. Meaning "to play, make believe" is recorded from 1865.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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