different between pretend vs pretender

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere, present active infinitive of praetend? (“put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tend? (“stretch”); see tend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???t?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd
• Hyphenation: pre?tend

Verb

pretend (third-person singular simple present pretends, present participle pretending, simple past and past participle pretended)

1. To claim, to allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception. [from 14th c.]
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, XVIII.23:

     "After what past at Upton, so soon to engage in a new amour with another woman, while I fancied, and you pretended, your heart was bleeding for me!"

   • 2009 April 13, “Vanity publishing”, in The Economist:

     I have nothing but contempt for people who hire ghost-writers. But at least most faux authors have the decency to pretend that they are sweating blood over "their" book.

2. To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.). [from 15th c.]
   • 2007 October 29, The Guardian, London:

     Gap and other clothes manufacturers should stop using small subcontractors because they are difficult to control. Instead, they should open up their own fully-owned production facilities so that they cannot pretend ignorance when abuses are committed.

3. To lay claim to (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). [from 15th c.] (originally used without to)
   • 1682, John Dryden, The Medal

     Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.25:

     People observed the diversity of schools and the acerbity of their disputes, and decided that all alike were pretending to knowledge which was in fact unattainable.

4. To make oneself appear to do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe.
   • 2003 January 23, Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, London:

     Luster claimed that the women had consented to sex and were only pretending to be asleep.

5. (transitive, obsolete) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To intend; to design, to plot; to attempt.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To hold before one; to extend.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.11:

     Pastorella […] Was by the Captaine all this while defended, / Who, minding more her safety then himselfe, / His target alwayes over her pretended […].

Usage notes

This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Related terms

• pretender
• pretense
• pretension
• pretentious
• pretentiousness

Translations

Further reading

• pretend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pretend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Adjective

pretend (not comparable)

1. Not really what it is represented as being; imaginary, feigned.

   As children we used to go on "spying" missions around the neighbour's house, but it was all pretend.

Translations

English

Etymology

pretend +? -er

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?nd?(?)

Noun

pretender (plural pretenders)

1. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.
2. A claimant to an abolished or already occupied throne.

Synonyms

• dissembler
• hypocrite
• phoney

Related terms

• pretend

Translations

Galician

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praetendere, present active infinitive of praetend?.

Verb

pretender (first-person singular present pretendo, first-person singular preterite pretendín, past participle pretendido)

1. to pretend
2. first/third-person singular future subjunctive of pretender
3. first/third-person singular personal infinitive of pretender

Conjugation

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praetendere, present active infinitive of praetend?.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /p?e.t?.?de(?)/

Verb

pretender (first-person singular present indicative pretendo, past participle pretendido)

1. to want
2. to pretend
3. to intend
4. to request
5. to aspire

Conjugation

Usage notes

• Pretender is a false friend, and does not mean pretend in the sense of to claim that or act as if something is different from what it actually is.

Related terms

• pretenso
• pretensão

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praetendere, present active infinitive of praetend?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?eten?de?/, [p?e.t??n??d?e?]

Verb

pretender (first-person singular present pretendo, first-person singular preterite pretendí, past participle pretendido)

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) to pretend (claim, allege)
2. to intend, to aim (for/to)

3. to woo, to court

Usage notes

• Pretender is a false friend, and does not mean pretend in the sense of to claim that or act as if something is different from what it actually is. The Spanish word for pretend in that sense is fingir.

Conjugation

Related terms

• pretendiente
• pretencioso
• pretenso
• pretensión