Master confusing words with ease
Pretense vs. Pretext
Pretense
/prɪˈtens/Examples:
She smiled under the pretense of calmness.His pretense of wealth fooled nobody.Under the pretense of friendship, he betrayed her.
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Antonyms:
Pretext
/ˈpriːtekst/Examples:
He used the rain as a pretext to skip the meeting.Her illness was a convenient pretext for avoiding the trip.Under pretext of fixing the issue, he delayed the project.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Remember that pretense often involves a display to deceive or cover true intentions while pretext implies a reason given to justify action, not necessarily fictitious but misleading in purpose.
- A pretense can be more theatrical and involves a false display which may have a wide audience or observer.
- A pretext is more about presenting a false justification, often used to camouflage the real reason for an action.
- The word pretense can be more about the act of pretending, while pretext leans towards an excuse.
- Think of pretense as a show or appearance, and pretext as a cover story.
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