pretensionn.¹

Brit.

/prᵻˈtɛnʃn/, U.S.

/priˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)n/,

/prəˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)n/

Forms: late Middle English pretencioun, late Middle English pretensioun, 1500s–1600s pretencion, 1500s– pretension, 1500s– pretention (now nonstandard).

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin praetension-, praetensio, praetention-, praetentio.

Etymology: < post-classical Latin praetension-, praetensio (also praetention-, praetentio) action of pretending, deceiving (Vetus Latina, with reference to an ambush), claim, demand (10th cent.), allegation, assertion (from 11th or 12th cent. in British sources), unauthorized claim (15th cent. in a British source) < classical Latin praetent- (in post-classical Latin also praetens- : see pretense adj.), past participial stem of praetendere pretend v. + -iō -ion suffix¹. Sense 1 is apparently not directly paralleled in Latin, or in the Romance languages. Compare Middle French, French prétention (1489 in sense 4, 18th cent. in senses 5a and 5b), Catalan pretensió (1420 or earlier), Spanish pretensión (1488), Portuguese pretensão (1619), Italian pretensione (a1440).

†1. Meaning, sense, signification. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > [noun]

to owe a wolda1325

meaninga1387

significationa1398

understanding1433

pretensionc1443

intellect?a1475

tendment1519

sense1530

reciprocation1604

sensing1613

denotation1614

apprehension1615

explicitness1630

sounda1631

notion1646

bodementa1657

means1656

force1709

notation1829

connotation1865

content1875

territory1875

c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 461 (MED) In kynde of þe firste maters, we schulen ȝeue wel nyȝe ful credence to þe precise literal pretencioun of holi writt.

c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 145 (MED) Þe borewer..consentiþ with al his partinent willyngis..accordyng to þe pretensioun and þe feynyng and sown of his wordis, wiþout eny inward reclaym.

2. An allegation or assertion the truth of which is not proved or admitted, esp. an unfounded or false one, or one put forward to deceive or serve as an excuse; (hence) an excuse, a pretext; a pretence.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > assertion without proof > [noun]

allegationc1425

pretensionc1449

alleging1528

allegement1594

allegeancea1649

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > false assertion > [noun]

suggestionc1380

pretensionc1449

misallegation1591

tort1632

pretence1754

falsism1835

the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > motive > specious motive or pretext > alleged motive or excuse

occasiona1398

pretencec1425

colour?1435

excuse1494

allegation1614

pretension1624

umbrage1634

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 463 (MED) If eny man can seie that eny of hem is blameable..for that he is aȝens sum commaundement of Cristis lawe..he must allegge forth which thilk religioun or thilk mannys lawe is; and ther upon he schal be herd and his pretensioun schal be examyned.

?1548 W. Kethe Tye thy Mare Tom Boye sig. Biii Your subtyll suspentions And wronge accusations with spitfull pretencions.

1609 S. Daniel Civile Wares (rev. ed.) viii. lxi. 219 And then, with what pretentions he might hide His priuat comming, and his oft resort.

1624 F. Bacon Considerations War with Spain in Wks. (1879) I. 538/1 It was afterwards alleged, that the duke of Parma did artificially delay his coming; but this was but an invention and pretension given out by the Spaniards.

1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 11 The same thing..was the strongest Repulse to my Pretentions of losing my Trade and my Goods.

1773 S. Johnson Let. 21 Sept. (1992) II. 77 The only things of which we or travellers yet more delicate, could find any pretensions to complain.

1791 J. Learmont Poems Pastoral 113 I winnae gang For nae pretension or prayer.

1882 R. L. Stevenson Foreigner at Home in Cornhill Mag. May 535 Miss Bird..declares all the viands of Japan to be uneatable—a staggering pretension.

1904 H. James Golden Bowl II. xxv. 7 She had had no accident nor got wet; this at any rate was her pretension until after she began a little to wonder if she mightn't, with or without exposure, have taken cold.

1979 C. H. Sisson in PN Rev. 12 1/2 One of the fatuities of the twentieth century is the pretension sometimes advanced..that the study of literature should concentrate on the present.

1991 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Feb. 166/2 The Prosecution's wannest pretension was that this was ‘just another drug case’.

†3. An intention; an aim or aspiration; a design. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose

willeOE

highOE

thoughtOE

intent?c1225

achesounc1230

attenta1250

couragec1320

devicec1320

minda1325

studya1382

understanding1382

suggestionc1390

meaninga1393

i-minda1400

minta1400

tent1399

castc1400

ettlingc1400

affecta1425

advicec1425

intention1430

purposec1430

proposea1450

intendment1450

supposing?c1450

pretensionc1456

intellectionc1460

zeal1492

hest?a1513

minting?a1513

institute?1520

intendingc1525

mindfulness1530

cogitationa1538

fordrift1549

forecast1549

designing1566

tention1587

levela1591

intendiment1595

design1597

suppose1597

aim1598

regarda1616

idea1617

contemplationa1631

speculation1631

way of thinking1650

designation1658

tend1663

would1753

predetermination1764

will to art1920

the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > aspiration, ambition > [noun] > instance of

pretensionc1456

dream1922

c1456 R. Pecock Bk. Faith (Trin. Cambr.) (1909) 236 (MED) The chirche..bi his owne pretencioun or interesse to expowne Holi Writt into teching which is trewe feith, must nedis knowleche that he takith Holi Scripture for his better..foundament of the feith.

1584 Disc. Treasons Throckmorton sig. A.iii^v The pretention (which shoulde be publiquely notified) should be to deliuer the Scottish Queene to libertie.

1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 155 In seeking a new fortune, lose their old, and so conuert their substance into pretensions, their certainty into nothing.

1782 F. Burney Cecilia I. ii. vi. 260 Acquaint me, then, freely, what are the pretensions of these gentlemen [sc. to Cecilia's hand]?

1844 W. Jamie Muse of Mearns 107 These catherans aft cam o'er the hill,..And good pretensions didna bear, Maist paid a visit ilka year.

a. The assertion of a claim as of right; a claim made; a demand. Chiefly in plural.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > claiming as due or right

pretence1425

pretension1585

vindicating1624

asserting1644

pretensiveness1710

society > authority > command > command or bidding > [noun] > demand

require1502

demanding1530

pretension1585

requiry1598

demand1604

1585 R. Greene Oration Buriall Gregorie XIII 10 It may bee that some may say that this famely doth want glorious titles, preeminence, riches, possessions, Iurisdictions, pretentions of rights [etc.].

1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 60 By reason of his pretention to the Crowne.

1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 221 in Justice Vindicated Nor can there be any question or process about the state or pretensions of the King, but in his Courts.

1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Speeches Ajax & Ulysses in Fables 473 All these had been my Rivals in the Shield, And yet all these to my Pretensions yield.

1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 31 May (1932) (modernized text) III. 1164 The pretensions..of France and the House of Austria, upon Naples.

1788 J. Madison Federalist Papers xxxvii. 7 To the difficulties already mentioned, may be added the interfering pretensions of the larger and smaller states.

1837 T. De Quincey Revolt of Tartars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 114/2 The consequence was, that he adopted the cause of Oubacha, and repressed the pretensions of Zebek-Dorchi.

1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) i. 39 Jebel Mûsa is now the only one [of the peaks] which puts forward any pretensions to be considered as the place.

1899 Times 27 Sept. 7/3 Our policy must be to prevent the establishment of an independent Boer State in South Africa hostile to England. The Boer pretension to be a sovereign international State runs directly counter to that policy.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 188/2 She..was successful..in defending the right of her infant grandson, Otto III., to the German crown against the pretensions of Henry the Quarrelsome, duke of Bavaria.

1957 W. S. Churchill Hist. Eng.-speaking Peoples III. vii. iii. 23 There were three claimants, whose pretensions are set out in the accompanying table.

2001 C. S. Ehrlich in D. N. Freedman & M. J. McClymond Rivers of Paradise 55 If he reached for the gold, it would prove his pretensions to the throne.

†b. A rightful or justifiable claim; a title. Chiefly in plural. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > legal right > [noun] > one's right(s)

i-rihtsc1000

rightc1300

judgementc1350

duec1450

droit1481

shayth1542

say1614

legitimate1650

pretension1710

entitlement1782

1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 207. ⁋3 The Courtier, the Trader, and the Scholar, should all have an equal Pretension to the Denomination of a Gentleman.

a1805 W. Paley Serm. (1810) x. 163 An opinion of merit is discouraged, even in those who had the best pretensions to entertain it; if any pretensions were good.

1822 P. Henry in Priv. Corr. H. Clay (1855) 67 He has pretensions [to the Presidency] in every respect—a man of business..—an elegant scholar.

a. A claim or profession to be or have something, as a quality, skill, etc. Usually with to. Chiefly in plural.

ΘΚΠ

society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > claiming as due or right > to merit, worth, etc.

pretence?a1439

pretension1662

1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iii. 23 Some pretensions to the Invention of Copper-cuts, and their Impressions.

1718 Free-thinker No. 66. 1 I..have little or no Pretensions to Beauty.

1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xxxiii. 321 Sir Charles Grandison, without making an ostentatious pretension to religion, is the very Christian in practice.

1788 A. Hamilton Federalist Papers lxxxv. 357 A man must have slender pretensions to consistency, who can rail at the latter [sc. the union] for imperfections which he finds no difficulty in excusing in the former [sc. the state].

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. vii. 140 An old man, whose thread-bare tunic bore witness to his poverty, as his sword and dagger and golden chain intimated his pretensions to rank.

1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial July 130 There is no composition, no elaboration, no artifice in the structure of the rhyme, no variety in the imagery; in short, no pretension to literary merit.

1877 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 3) II. viii. 197 A mediæval castle and a house..of no great pretensions.

1884 A. C. Swinburne Misc. (1886) 23 It would be but too easy a task to..prove by the avowal of his own pretentions that he can pretend to the credit of no such imbecility.

1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. 191 Almost every family with any pretensions to be of the carriage class paid one visit to the horse-chestnuts at Bushey.

1977 K. M. E. Murray Caught in Web of Words i. 15 He was a good natured, easy going man, making no pretensions to be better spoken or more refined in manners or dress than those amongst whom he moved.

2001 L. de Bernières Sunday Morning at Centre of World p. x I have, therefore, no pretensions to any ‘street-cred’ whatsoever, and moreover I don't think that anyone who has lived with working-class people would really be tempted to romanticise them for very long.

b. The unwarranted assumption of dignity, merit, etc.; the use of affectation to impress; pretentiousness, ostentation; an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pride > pretension to superiority > [noun]

pensifulnessc1450

affectation1548

affection1570

affectedness1622

lady aira1637

fastuousness1649

gentility1650

fastuosity1656

vapouring1656

flatulency1662

hoity-toity1668

pretendingness1701

with an air1701

pretension1706

flatulence1711

uppishness1716

high and mightiness1771

pensieness1825

fine-gentlemanism1831

pretentiousness1838

ambitiousness1845

stuckupishness1853

pretensiveness1859

notion1866

side1870

dog1871

hoity-toityism1881

superiority complex1921

snootiness1932

uppitiness1935

snottiness1973

snoot1984

swag2002

the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > [noun]

boast1297

strut1303

bombancec1325

bobantc1330

bobancec1380

ambitionc1384

oliprancec1390

pretence?a1439

ostentationa1475

pransawtea1500

bravity1546

finesse1549

bravery1573

overlashing1579

brave1596

peacockry1596

garishness1598

maggot ostentation1598

ostent1609

flaunta1625

spectability1637

vantation1637

fastuousness1649

fastuosity1656

finery1656

parade1656

phantastry1656

ostentatiousness1658

éclat1704

pretension1706

braw1724

swell1724

showiness1730

ostensibility1775

fanfaronade1784

display1816

showing off1822

glimmer1827

tigerism1836

peacockery1844

show-off1846

flare1847

peacockism1854

swank1854

tigerishness1869

flashness1888

flamboyance1891

peacockishness1892

flamboyancy1896

swankiness1920

plushness1949

glitziness1982

fantasia-

fantastication-

1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer ii. 5 Here we have smoke, noise, scandal, affectation, and pretension.

1735 A. Pope Epit. R. Digby in Wks. II. 9 Good without noise, without pretension great.

a1817 J. Austen Lady Susan viii, in Wks. (1954) VI. 255 I have not detected the smallest impropriety in it—nothing of vanity, of pretension, of Levity.

1837 R. W. Emerson Oration before Phi Beta Kappa Soc. 19 The world is his, who can see through its pretension.

1869 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (1875) 95 This day of self-seeking and pretensions!

1904 H. James Golden Bowl I. i. 24 He also took himself seriously—made a point of it; but it wasn't simply a question of fancy and pretension.

1972 Daily Tel. 7 Jan. 11/7 Almost every silly little myth and pretension associated with the phrase avant-garde is perpetuated by this preposterous waste of space.

1993 A. Goodwin Dancing in Distraction Factory 4 An enormous cacophany that rivals Queen's six-minute clip Bohemian Rhapsody..in bluster, complexity, and overblown pretension.

Derivatives

† pretensional adj. Obsolete of, relating to, or of the nature of pretension.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > [adjective]

fainta1340

counterfeit1393

pretense1395

feinta1400

feigned1413

disguisyc1430

colourable1433

pretending1434

simulate1435

dissimuled1475

simulative1490

coloureda1500

dissimulate?a1500

simuled1526

colorate1528

dissembled1539

mock1548

devised1552

pretended?1553

artificial1564

supposed1566

counterfeited1569

supposing?1574

affecteda1586

pretensive1607

false1609

supposite1611

simulara1616

simulatory1618

simulated1622

put-ona1625

ironic1631

ironical1646

devisable1659

pretensional1659

pretenced1660

pretensory1663

vizarded1663

shammed?c1677

sham1681

faux1684

fictitious1739

ostensible1762

made-up1773

mala fide1808

assumed1813

semblative1814

fictioned1820

pretextual1837

pseudo1854

fictive1855

schlenter1881

faked1890

phoney1893

phantom1897

1659 P. Heylyn Examen Historicum ii. 98 Hitherto his intents were reall, not pretentionall only.

preˈtensionless adj. rare without pretensions, unpretending, unpretentious.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > [adjective]

simplec1300

measurablec1330

methec1390

murec1390

smallc1405

soleinc1450

timorous1474

modest1561

unbragging1570

unboldened1591

unpresuming1607

bragless1609

unambitious1621

boastless1632

unpompous1656

verecundous1656

sober1659

tender-foreheaded1659

unpragmatical1673

unpretending1681

unpresumptuous1704

unimportant1727

unaspiringa1729

inambitious1729

unassuming1730

unostentatiousa1739

unboastful1744

pretensionless1748

unarrogating1748

uncontending1748

unopinionated1775

unboasting1802

underbearing1802

mousy1812

un-ultra1817

unarrogant1831

low-flying1835

unconceited1838

unpretentious1838

uninflated1861

unvain1863

unbumptious1865

1748 D. Mallet Congratulatory Let. to Selim 62 These modern Goths, from the sordid Duke down to the rich Brewer, will live and die, equally involved in general Oblivion and Silence, equally obscure and pretensionless to Fame.

1831 ‘P. Palette’ Crayons from Commons 10 A steady grave deliberative man, Pretensionless in manner, air, and tone.

1998 D. Wiggins Needs, Values,Truth (ed. 3) x. 384 To adopt a schematism of this sort is to deform or abandon a low-level and almost pretensionless form of genuine insight which serves us indispensably well.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	pretension
释义	pretensionn.¹ Brit. /prᵻˈtɛnʃn/, U.S. /priˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)n/, /prəˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)n/ Forms: late Middle English pretencioun, late Middle English pretensioun, 1500s–1600s pretencion, 1500s– pretension, 1500s– pretention (now nonstandard). Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin praetension-, praetensio, praetention-, praetentio. Etymology: < post-classical Latin praetension-, praetensio (also praetention-, praetentio) action of pretending, deceiving (Vetus Latina, with reference to an ambush), claim, demand (10th cent.), allegation, assertion (from 11th or 12th cent. in British sources), unauthorized claim (15th cent. in a British source) < classical Latin praetent- (in post-classical Latin also praetens- : see pretense adj.), past participial stem of praetendere pretend v. + -iō -ion suffix¹. Sense 1 is apparently not directly paralleled in Latin, or in the Romance languages. Compare Middle French, French prétention (1489 in sense 4, 18th cent. in senses 5a and 5b), Catalan pretensió (1420 or earlier), Spanish pretensión (1488), Portuguese pretensão (1619), Italian pretensione (a1440). †1. Meaning, sense, signification. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > [noun] to owe a wolda1325 meaninga1387 significationa1398 understanding1433 pretensionc1443 intellect?a1475 tendment1519 sense1530 reciprocation1604 sensing1613 denotation1614 apprehension1615 explicitness1630 sounda1631 notion1646 bodementa1657 means1656 force1709 notation1829 connotation1865 content1875 territory1875 c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 461 (MED) In kynde of þe firste maters, we schulen ȝeue wel nyȝe ful credence to þe precise literal pretencioun of holi writt. c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 145 (MED) Þe borewer..consentiþ with al his partinent willyngis..accordyng to þe pretensioun and þe feynyng and sown of his wordis, wiþout eny inward reclaym. 2. An allegation or assertion the truth of which is not proved or admitted, esp. an unfounded or false one, or one put forward to deceive or serve as an excuse; (hence) an excuse, a pretext; a pretence. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > assertion without proof > [noun] allegationc1425 pretensionc1449 alleging1528 allegement1594 allegeancea1649 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > false assertion > [noun] suggestionc1380 pretensionc1449 misallegation1591 tort1632 pretence1754 falsism1835 the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > motive > specious motive or pretext > alleged motive or excuse occasiona1398 pretencec1425 colour?1435 excuse1494 allegation1614 pretension1624 umbrage1634 c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 463 (MED) If eny man can seie that eny of hem is blameable..for that he is aȝens sum commaundement of Cristis lawe..he must allegge forth which thilk religioun or thilk mannys lawe is; and ther upon he schal be herd and his pretensioun schal be examyned. ?1548 W. Kethe Tye thy Mare Tom Boye sig. Biii Your subtyll suspentions And wronge accusations with spitfull pretencions. 1609 S. Daniel Civile Wares (rev. ed.) viii. lxi. 219 And then, with what pretentions he might hide His priuat comming, and his oft resort. 1624 F. Bacon Considerations War with Spain in Wks. (1879) I. 538/1 It was afterwards alleged, that the duke of Parma did artificially delay his coming; but this was but an invention and pretension given out by the Spaniards. 1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 11 The same thing..was the strongest Repulse to my Pretentions of losing my Trade and my Goods. 1773 S. Johnson Let. 21 Sept. (1992) II. 77 The only things of which we or travellers yet more delicate, could find any pretensions to complain. 1791 J. Learmont Poems Pastoral 113 I winnae gang For nae pretension or prayer. 1882 R. L. Stevenson Foreigner at Home in Cornhill Mag. May 535 Miss Bird..declares all the viands of Japan to be uneatable—a staggering pretension. 1904 H. James Golden Bowl II. xxv. 7 She had had no accident nor got wet; this at any rate was her pretension until after she began a little to wonder if she mightn't, with or without exposure, have taken cold. 1979 C. H. Sisson in PN Rev. 12 1/2 One of the fatuities of the twentieth century is the pretension sometimes advanced..that the study of literature should concentrate on the present. 1991 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Feb. 166/2 The Prosecution's wannest pretension was that this was ‘just another drug case’. †3. An intention; an aim or aspiration; a design. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose willeOE highOE thoughtOE intent?c1225 achesounc1230 attenta1250 couragec1320 devicec1320 minda1325 studya1382 understanding1382 suggestionc1390 meaninga1393 i-minda1400 minta1400 tent1399 castc1400 ettlingc1400 affecta1425 advicec1425 intention1430 purposec1430 proposea1450 intendment1450 supposing?c1450 pretensionc1456 intellectionc1460 zeal1492 hest?a1513 minting?a1513 institute?1520 intendingc1525 mindfulness1530 cogitationa1538 fordrift1549 forecast1549 designing1566 tention1587 levela1591 intendiment1595 design1597 suppose1597 aim1598 regarda1616 idea1617 contemplationa1631 speculation1631 view1634 way of thinking1650 designation1658 tend1663 would1753 predetermination1764 will to art1920 the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > aspiration, ambition > [noun] > instance of pretensionc1456 dream1922 c1456 R. Pecock Bk. Faith (Trin. Cambr.) (1909) 236 (MED) The chirche..bi his owne pretencioun or interesse to expowne Holi Writt into teching which is trewe feith, must nedis knowleche that he takith Holi Scripture for his better..foundament of the feith. 1584 Disc. Treasons Throckmorton sig. A.iii^v The pretention (which shoulde be publiquely notified) should be to deliuer the Scottish Queene to libertie. 1620 Horæ Subseciuæ 155 In seeking a new fortune, lose their old, and so conuert their substance into pretensions, their certainty into nothing. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia I. ii. vi. 260 Acquaint me, then, freely, what are the pretensions of these gentlemen [sc. to Cecilia's hand]? 1844 W. Jamie Muse of Mearns 107 These catherans aft cam o'er the hill,..And good pretensions didna bear, Maist paid a visit ilka year. 4. a. The assertion of a claim as of right; a claim made; a demand. Chiefly in plural. ΘΚΠ society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > claiming as due or right pretence1425 pretension1585 vindicating1624 asserting1644 pretensiveness1710 society > authority > command > command or bidding > [noun] > demand require1502 demanding1530 pretension1585 requiry1598 demand1604 1585 R. Greene Oration Buriall Gregorie XIII 10 It may bee that some may say that this famely doth want glorious titles, preeminence, riches, possessions, Iurisdictions, pretentions of rights [etc.]. 1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 60 By reason of his pretention to the Crowne. 1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 221 in Justice Vindicated Nor can there be any question or process about the state or pretensions of the King, but in his Courts. 1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Speeches Ajax & Ulysses in Fables 473 All these had been my Rivals in the Shield, And yet all these to my Pretensions yield. 1748 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 31 May (1932) (modernized text) III. 1164 The pretensions..of France and the House of Austria, upon Naples. 1788 J. Madison Federalist Papers xxxvii. 7 To the difficulties already mentioned, may be added the interfering pretensions of the larger and smaller states. 1837 T. De Quincey Revolt of Tartars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. July 114/2 The consequence was, that he adopted the cause of Oubacha, and repressed the pretensions of Zebek-Dorchi. 1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) i. 39 Jebel Mûsa is now the only one [of the peaks] which puts forward any pretensions to be considered as the place. 1899 Times 27 Sept. 7/3 Our policy must be to prevent the establishment of an independent Boer State in South Africa hostile to England. The Boer pretension to be a sovereign international State runs directly counter to that policy. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 188/2 She..was successful..in defending the right of her infant grandson, Otto III., to the German crown against the pretensions of Henry the Quarrelsome, duke of Bavaria. 1957 W. S. Churchill Hist. Eng.-speaking Peoples III. vii. iii. 23 There were three claimants, whose pretensions are set out in the accompanying table. 2001 C. S. Ehrlich in D. N. Freedman & M. J. McClymond Rivers of Paradise 55 If he reached for the gold, it would prove his pretensions to the throne. †b. A rightful or justifiable claim; a title. Chiefly in plural. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > law > legal right > [noun] > one's right(s) i-rihtsc1000 rightc1300 judgementc1350 duec1450 droit1481 shayth1542 say1614 legitimate1650 pretension1710 entitlement1782 1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 207. ⁋3 The Courtier, the Trader, and the Scholar, should all have an equal Pretension to the Denomination of a Gentleman. a1805 W. Paley Serm. (1810) x. 163 An opinion of merit is discouraged, even in those who had the best pretensions to entertain it; if any pretensions were good. 1822 P. Henry in Priv. Corr. H. Clay (1855) 67 He has pretensions [to the Presidency] in every respect—a man of business..—an elegant scholar. 5. a. A claim or profession to be or have something, as a quality, skill, etc. Usually with to. Chiefly in plural. ΘΚΠ society > morality > dueness or propriety > [noun] > claiming as due or right > to merit, worth, etc. pretence?a1439 pretension1662 1662 J. Evelyn Sculptura iii. 23 Some pretensions to the Invention of Copper-cuts, and their Impressions. 1718 Free-thinker No. 66. 1 I..have little or no Pretensions to Beauty. 1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xxxiii. 321 Sir Charles Grandison, without making an ostentatious pretension to religion, is the very Christian in practice. 1788 A. Hamilton Federalist Papers lxxxv. 357 A man must have slender pretensions to consistency, who can rail at the latter [sc. the union] for imperfections which he finds no difficulty in excusing in the former [sc. the state]. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. vii. 140 An old man, whose thread-bare tunic bore witness to his poverty, as his sword and dagger and golden chain intimated his pretensions to rank. 1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial July 130 There is no composition, no elaboration, no artifice in the structure of the rhyme, no variety in the imagery; in short, no pretension to literary merit. 1877 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 3) II. viii. 197 A mediæval castle and a house..of no great pretensions. 1884 A. C. Swinburne Misc. (1886) 23 It would be but too easy a task to..prove by the avowal of his own pretentions that he can pretend to the credit of no such imbecility. 1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. 191 Almost every family with any pretensions to be of the carriage class paid one visit to the horse-chestnuts at Bushey. 1977 K. M. E. Murray Caught in Web of Words i. 15 He was a good natured, easy going man, making no pretensions to be better spoken or more refined in manners or dress than those amongst whom he moved. 2001 L. de Bernières Sunday Morning at Centre of World p. x I have, therefore, no pretensions to any ‘street-cred’ whatsoever, and moreover I don't think that anyone who has lived with working-class people would really be tempted to romanticise them for very long. b. The unwarranted assumption of dignity, merit, etc.; the use of affectation to impress; pretentiousness, ostentation; an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pride > pretension to superiority > [noun] pensifulnessc1450 affectation1548 affection1570 affectedness1622 lady aira1637 fastuousness1649 gentility1650 fastuosity1656 vapouring1656 flatulency1662 hoity-toity1668 pretendingness1701 with an air1701 pretension1706 flatulence1711 uppishness1716 high and mightiness1771 pensieness1825 fine-gentlemanism1831 pretentiousness1838 ambitiousness1845 stuckupishness1853 pretensiveness1859 notion1866 side1870 dog1871 hoity-toityism1881 superiority complex1921 snootiness1932 uppitiness1935 snottiness1973 snoot1984 swag2002 the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > [noun] boast1297 strut1303 bombancec1325 bobantc1330 bobancec1380 ambitionc1384 oliprancec1390 pretence?a1439 ostentationa1475 pransawtea1500 bravity1546 finesse1549 bravery1573 overlashing1579 brave1596 peacockry1596 garishness1598 maggot ostentation1598 ostent1609 flaunta1625 spectability1637 vantation1637 fastuousness1649 fastuosity1656 finery1656 parade1656 phantastry1656 ostentatiousness1658 éclat1704 pretension1706 braw1724 swell1724 showiness1730 ostensibility1775 fanfaronade1784 display1816 showing off1822 glimmer1827 tigerism1836 peacockery1844 show-off1846 flare1847 peacockism1854 swank1854 tigerishness1869 flashness1888 flamboyance1891 peacockishness1892 flamboyancy1896 swankiness1920 plushness1949 glitziness1982 fantasia- fantastication- 1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer ii. 5 Here we have smoke, noise, scandal, affectation, and pretension. 1735 A. Pope Epit. R. Digby in Wks. II. 9 Good without noise, without pretension great. a1817 J. Austen Lady Susan viii, in Wks. (1954) VI. 255 I have not detected the smallest impropriety in it—nothing of vanity, of pretension, of Levity. 1837 R. W. Emerson Oration before Phi Beta Kappa Soc. 19 The world is his, who can see through its pretension. 1869 W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (1875) 95 This day of self-seeking and pretensions! 1904 H. James Golden Bowl I. i. 24 He also took himself seriously—made a point of it; but it wasn't simply a question of fancy and pretension. 1972 Daily Tel. 7 Jan. 11/7 Almost every silly little myth and pretension associated with the phrase avant-garde is perpetuated by this preposterous waste of space. 1993 A. Goodwin Dancing in Distraction Factory 4 An enormous cacophany that rivals Queen's six-minute clip Bohemian Rhapsody..in bluster, complexity, and overblown pretension. Derivatives † pretensional adj. Obsolete of, relating to, or of the nature of pretension. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > [adjective] fainta1340 counterfeit1393 pretense1395 feinta1400 feigned1413 disguisyc1430 colourable1433 pretending1434 simulate1435 dissimuled1475 simulative1490 coloureda1500 dissimulate?a1500 simuled1526 colorate1528 dissembled1539 mock1548 devised1552 pretended?1553 artificial1564 supposed1566 counterfeited1569 supposing?1574 affecteda1586 pretensive1607 false1609 supposite1611 simulara1616 simulatory1618 simulated1622 put-ona1625 ironic1631 ironical1646 devisable1659 pretensional1659 pretenced1660 pretensory1663 vizarded1663 shammed?c1677 sham1681 faux1684 fictitious1739 ostensible1762 made-up1773 mala fide1808 assumed1813 semblative1814 fictioned1820 pretextual1837 pseudo1854 fictive1855 schlenter1881 faked1890 phoney1893 phantom1897 1659 P. Heylyn Examen Historicum ii. 98 Hitherto his intents were reall, not pretentionall only. preˈtensionless adj. rare without pretensions, unpretending, unpretentious. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > [adjective] simplec1300 measurablec1330 methec1390 murec1390 smallc1405 soleinc1450 timorous1474 modest1561 unbragging1570 unboldened1591 unpresuming1607 bragless1609 unambitious1621 boastless1632 unpompous1656 verecundous1656 sober1659 tender-foreheaded1659 unpragmatical1673 unpretending1681 unpresumptuous1704 unimportant1727 unaspiringa1729 inambitious1729 unassuming1730 unostentatiousa1739 unboastful1744 pretensionless1748 unarrogating1748 uncontending1748 unopinionated1775 unboasting1802 underbearing1802 mousy1812 un-ultra1817 unarrogant1831 low-flying1835 unconceited1838 unpretentious1838 uninflated1861 unvain1863 unbumptious1865 1748 D. Mallet Congratulatory Let. to Selim 62 These modern Goths, from the sordid Duke down to the rich Brewer, will live and die, equally involved in general Oblivion and Silence, equally obscure and pretensionless to Fame. 1831 ‘P. Palette’ Crayons from Commons 10 A steady grave deliberative man, Pretensionless in manner, air, and tone. 1998 D. Wiggins Needs, Values,Truth (ed. 3) x. 384 To adopt a schematism of this sort is to deform or abandon a low-level and almost pretensionless form of genuine insight which serves us indispensably well. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022). > see also also refers to : pre-tensionn.² also refers to : pre-tensionv. < n.¹c1443 see also
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pretensionn.1

Derivatives

> see also

pretensionn.¹