What is the meaning of pretense?

noun

• The act of giving a false appearance.
  • usage: "his conformity was only pretending"
  • synonyms: pretence, pretending, simulation, feigning
• Pretending with intention to deceive.
  • synonyms: pretence, feigning, dissembling
• Imaginative intellectual play.
  • synonyms: pretence, make-believe
• A false or unsupportable quality.
  • synonyms: pretension, pretence
• An artful or simulated semblance.
  • usage: "under the guise of friendship he betrayed them"
  • synonyms: guise, pretence, pretext