noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
drop the pretence (= stop pretending )
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He has finally dropped the pretence that he’s innnocent.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
abandon
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With relief, I abandoned any pretence at being clever and became a mystic assistant labourer.
drop
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Now, though, the New Labour high command seems ready to drop the pretence .
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Occasionally, they drop all pretence of fairness.
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No other hypocrites in Shakespeare gain so much so quickly, so easily, and can afford to drop pretence so fast.
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If only he would drop all this ridiculous pretence , stop acting the fool and raise his game one more time.
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By now Miller had dropped all pretence at knowing where he was, and the night was exceedingly dark.
keep
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How long could she keep up the pretence of being a competent sailor?
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It was only in London they had to keep up the pretence that Buckmaster had nothing to do with his company.
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Though we no longer went out together in the evenings, I promised to keep up the pretence that we did.
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My friends, mostly similarly ignorant, all keep up this absurd pretence , and all beneath the eyes of an expert.
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And referee trying to prize them apart, to keep at least the pretence of a fight going.
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Critics could barely keep to the constitutional pretence that the monarch was above political error.
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What effort is required to keep up the pretence ?
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She was strongly aware of his presence, and in the end she couldn't keep up the pretence .
make
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Gummer makes no pretence of objectivity in his text.
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Wolfowitz's announcement made that pretence no longer tenable.
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The kind of love he wanted she could never give, and had never made any pretence of.
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It made no pretence of catering to faddish tastes like vegetarianism or high fibre diets.
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To make a decent pretence that she cared?
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He made a great pretence of studying her ticket, turning it over, then turning it back.
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It seems he makes no pretence about his disgusting perversion.
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He had never made much pretence at hiding it.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
under false pretences
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He got a loan from the bank under false pretences.
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Immigration officers attempt to catch people entering the country under false pretenses.
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He brought me down here to work for him under false pretences.
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He was only interested in himself and his business, and had married her under false pretences.
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I felt as if I was there under false pretences.
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I got into your office under false pretences, but there was no other way.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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After two weeks he could keep up the pretence no longer and decided to tell her the truth.
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Mr Tellwright made no pretence of concealing his satisfaction.
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The worst thing about liberal academics is the pretence that they are somehow more open-minded than their opponents.
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Wilson asked Carly out to dinner, on the pretence that he wanted to talk to her about business.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Designing with tradition is not a pretence for re-creating the old.
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For all her pretence , she loved books.
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For six weeks, Charlotte had sustained the pretence that her suspicions about Maurice could somehow be stifled.
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Gummer makes no pretence of objectivity in his text.
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He adopts Harsnett's premise that possession is a theatrical performance - Edgar continually brings attention to his madness being a pretence .
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On the Reach itself, there could be no pretence that this would be an ordinary night.
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The parent's intention is often to protect so they hide tears and sorrowing putting on a ghastly pretence of cheerfulness.