pretense

noun

1.
2.
pretending with intention to deceive
dissembling feigning pretence
Derived from:
pretend pretentious
Exemplifies:
American spelling
3.
imaginative intellectual play
makebelief make-believe pretence
Exemplifies:
American spelling
4.
a false or unsupportable quality
pretence pretension
Derived from:
pretend
Exemplifies:
American spelling
5.
an artful or simulated semblance
guise pretence pretext
Exemplifies:
American spelling