pretender
Etymology 1 Pronunciation
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Etymology 1 Pronunciation
- IPA: /pɹɪˈtɛndəɹ/
pretender (plural pretenders)
- (obsolete, rare) One who intends or purposes.
- 1591, Percivall, Sp. Dict. :
- Pretensor, a pretender, he that purposeth.
- 1598, Florio :
- Pretendente, a pretendent, a pretender, an intender, a meaner.
- One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.
- 1622, Mabbe, Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf 1.214:
- By how straight a Rule […] must that Pretender carry himselfe, who is to saile thorow the sea of this world, hoping for a fortune from another mans hand?
- a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “Sermon XXX”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC ↗, page 8 ↗:
- […] ; to consider the direct purposes of God against his enemies, rather than the sinister supplantations of pretenders to places in court; […]
- 1646, H. Lawrence, Comm. Angells 116:
- Every one is a pretender and a runner; but few carry the prize.
- 1766, William Blackstone, chapter 14, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC ↗, page 218 ↗:
- The issue of the eldest son excludes all other pretenders, as the son himself (if living) would have done.
- 1780 May 25th, Johnson, Let. to Mrs. Thrale :
- A candidate for a school at Brewood in Staffordshire; to which, I think, there are seventeen pretenders.
- 1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC ↗, book IV, page 238 ↗:
- I would sooner gain five thousand pounds by restoring you to your rights, than fifty thousand in establishing any of these pretenders in their base assumptions.
- (obsolete) One who aspires to the hand of a woman in marriage; a suitor, a wooer.
- ante 1699, Lady Halkett, Autobiog. 17, (Camden):
- An Earles daughter, […] whose mother not allowing him to come as a pretender shee made apointmentt with him and mett him att her cousin’s howse.
- 1728 (1732), Eliza Heywood, Mme. de Gomez’s Belle A. 2.235:
- It is not my design to dispose of Irene to the most noble, but most wealthy of the Pretenders to her Love.
- A claimant to a throne or the office of a ruler; originally in a neutral sense, but now always applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title.
- 1697, Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, page 125 ↗:
- If inteſtine Broils allarm the Hive, / (For two Pretenders oft for Empire ſtrive)
- 1708 March 11th, Anne Regina, The Queen’s Speech to both Houses ↗, in The History and Proceedings of the House of Commons, volume IV: 1706–1713, London: Chandler (1742), § iv: “First Parliament of Great Britain”, page 92:
- I Think it necessary to acquaint you, that I have received Advices this Morning from Ostend, that the French Fleet sailed from Dunkirk, Tuesday at three in the Morning, Northward, with the Pretender on board; as also, that Sir George Byng had notice of it the same Day at ten: And he being very much superior to the Enemy both in Number and Strength, I make no question, but, by God’s Blessing, he will soon be able to give a good Account of them.
- c. 1715, Burnet, Own Time 2.503:
- She [Q. Anne] also fixed a new Designation on the Pretended Prince of Wales, and called him the Pretender; he was so called in a new Set of Addresses […] upon this occasion […] made to the Queen.
- 1824 June, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC ↗, page 238 ↗:
- the provost’s enemies at the council-table of the burgh used to observe that he uttered there many a bold harangue against the Pretender, and in favour of King George and government, of which he dared not have pronounced a syllable in his own bedchamber
- 1827 (1876), Hallam, Const. Hist. 3.16.223:
- The pretender […] had friends in the tory government more sincere probably and zealous than [the earl of] Oxford.
- 1845, S. Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref. 3.633:
- Wullenweber […] turned to the nearest protestant pretender, Duke Christian, and offered him his assistance to obtain the crown.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 3, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗, page 442 ↗:
- Every province […] had its own Augustus. All these pretenders could not be rightful Emperors.
- One who pretends or lays claim to something; one who makes a profession, show, or assertion, especially without adequate grounds, falsely, or with intent to deceive; a dissembler, deceiver, charlatan, hypocrite.
- 1631 (first performance), Philip Massinger, The Emperour of the East. A Tragæ-comœdie. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Iohn Waterson, published 1632, →OCLC ↗, Act II, scene i ↗:
- A pretender / To the art, I truely honor, and ſubſcribe / To your maieſties opinion.
- 1631 May 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Philip Massinger, Believe as You List: A Tragedy (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]; XXVII), London: […] [F]or the Percy Society, by Richards, […], published 1849, →OCLC ↗, Act II, scene i ↗:
- Make it a feast, and perfit your great injustice / In the surrendringe up this false pretender / To the correction of the law, […]
- 1651, Thomas Hobbes, chapter 18, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC ↗, 2nd part (Of Common-wealth), page 89 ↗:
- But this pretence of Covenant with God, is so evident a lye, even in the pretenders own consciences, that it is not onely an act of an unjust, but also a vile, and unmanly disposition.
- 1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Introduction to the Following Treatise”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC ↗, page xlv ↗:
- […] But, I answer; that it is not so easy an Acquirement as a few ignorant Pretenders may imagine.
- 1782, William Cowper, “The Diverting History of John Gilpin, […]”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], published 1785, →OCLC ↗, page 492 ↗:
- That honour has been long The boast of mere pretenders to the name.
- 1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “My Pedigree and Family.—Undergo the Influence of the Tender Passion.”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC ↗, page 3 ↗:
- I presume that there is no gentleman in Europe that has not heard of the house of Barry of Barryogue, of the kingdom of Ireland, than which a more famous name is not to be found in Gwillim or D’Hozier; and though, as a man of the world, I have learned to despise heartily the claims of some pretenders to high birth who have no more genealogy than the lacquey who cleans my boots, […]
- 1848 (1850), Mrs. Jameson, Sacr. & Leg. Art 122:
- Simon, a Samaritan, a pretender to divine authority and supernatural powers.
- A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.
- Synonyms: dissembler, flip-flopper, hypocrite, phony, Thesaurus:deceiver
- French: imposteur, imposteuse
- German: Betrüger, Betrügerin, Angeber, Angeberin, Heuchler, Heuchlerin
- Italian: impostore, mistificatore, simulatore
- Russian: притво́рщик
- Spanish: impostor, mentiroso, embustero, hipócrita, falso, grupiento
- French: prétendant, prétendante
- German: Anwärter, Anwärterin
- Italian: pretendente, aspirante, candidato
- Russian: претенде́нт
- Spanish: pretendiente
pretender (pretenders, present participle pretendering; simple past and past participle pretendered)
- (uncommon) To tender (a bid
etc.) in advance.
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002
