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pretensionmore about pretension

pretension


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Pretension  \Pre*ten"sion\,  n.  [Cf.  F.  pr['e]tention.  See 
  {Pretend},  {Tension}.] 
  1.  The  act  of  pretending,  or  laying  claim;  the  act  of 
  asserting  right  or  title. 
 
  The  arrogant  pretensions  of  Glengarry  contributed  to 
  protract  the  discussion.  --Macaulay. 
 
  2.  A  claim  made  whether  true  or  false;  a  right  alleged  or 
  assumed;  a  holding  out  the  appearance  of  possessing  a 
  certain  character;  as  pretensions  to  scholarship. 
 
  This  was  but  an  invention  and  pretension  given  out 
  by  the  Spaniards.  --Bacon. 
 
  Men  indulge  those  opinions  and  practices  that  favor 
  their  pretensions.  --L'Estrange. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  pretension 
  n  1:  a  false  or  unsupportable  quality  [syn:  {pretence},  {pretense}] 
  2:  the  quality  of  being  pretentious  (creating  a  false 
  appearance  of  great  importance  or  worth)  [syn:  {pretentiousness}] 
  [ant:  {unpretentiousness}] 




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