false pretension

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The detection, it is true, is not so easy, because the objects are not so nigh at hand to compare, and therefore there is more room both for false pretension and for self-deceit.

From Table Talk Essays on Men and Manners by Hazlitt, William

But at that critical period of their daughter's life, they were ignorant of human nature, and entirely unskilled in the means of detecting false pretension, or discovering true merit.

From The Lights and Shadows of Real Life by Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)

It is a clear case of false pretension.

From Gryll Grange by Peacock, Thomas Love

There was always, and there will be always, a certain amount of false pretension in life which you may, if you like, call acting.

From Cornelius O'Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General by Lever, Charles James

She said this, therefore, only to tease her aunt by the false pretension that the secret had been confided to her.

From History of King Charles the Second of England by Abbott, Jacob