[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

pretence \pretence"\, n., pretenceful \pretence"ful\, a.,
pretenceless \pretence"less\, a.
   see pretense, pretenseful, pretenseless.
   1913 webster
see also:
pretense pretenseful pretenseless 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

pretense \pretense"\, pretence \pretence\, n. ll. praetensus,
   for l. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. see pretend, and
   cf. tension.
   1. the act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption;
      pretension. --spenser.
      1913 webster

            primogeniture can not have any pretense to a right
            of solely inheriting property or power. --locke.
      1913 webster

            i went to lambeth with sir r. brown's pretense to
            the wardenship of merton college, oxford. --evelyn.
      1913 webster

   2. the act of holding out, or offering, to others something
      false or feigned; presentation of what is deceptive or
      hypocritical; deception by showing what is unreal and
      concealing what is real; false show; simulation; as,
      pretense of illness; under pretense of patriotism; on
      pretense of revenging caesar's death.
      1913 webster

   3. that which is pretended; false, deceptive, or hypocritical
      show, argument, or reason; pretext; feint.
      1913 webster

            let not the trojans, with a feigned pretense
            of proffered peace, delude the latian prince.
                                                  --dryden.
      1913 webster

   4. intention; design. obs.
      1913 webster

            a very pretense and purpose of unkindness. --shak.
      1913 webster

   note: see the note under offense.
         1913 webster

   syn: mask; appearance; color; show; pretext; excuse.

   usage: pretense, pretext. a pretense is something held
          out as real when it is not so, thus falsifying the
          truth. a pretext is something woven up in order to
          cover or conceal one's true motives, feelings, or
          reasons. pretext is often, but not always, used in a
          bad sense.
          1913 webster
see also:
pretend tension note offense pretense pretext 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

pretence
     n 1: a false or unsupportable quality syn: pretension, pretense
     2: an artful or simulated semblance; "under the guise of
        friendship he betrayed them" syn: guise, pretense, pretext
     3: pretending with intention to deceive syn: pretense, feigning,
         dissembling
     4: imaginative intellectual play syn: pretense, make-believe
     5: the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was
        only pretending" syn: pretense, pretending, simulation,
         feigning
see also:
pretension pretense guise pretext feigning dissembling 
make-believe pretending simulation 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

46 moby thesaurus words for "pretence":
   airs, appearance, artifice, blind, camouflage, cloak, cover,
   cover-up, deception, disguise, display, dodge, excuse, fable,
   fabrication, facade, fairy tale, fakery, faking, falsification,
   feigning, fiction, figment, front, guise, hoax, humbug, humbuggery,
   hypocrisy, impression, invention, make-believe, mask, masquerade,
   ostentation, pose, posturing, pretending, pretension,
   pretentiousness, pretext, ruse, sham, show, story, veil

Pretence >> P Words
Pretence, definition of term: Pretence
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