PRE-TENSIONS Synonyms: 54 Similar and Opposite Words

pretensions

noun

plural of pretension

as in rights

an entitlement to something a pretension of long standing to the throne of Hungary

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in goals

something that one hopes or intends to accomplish has serious pretensions of becoming a writer

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pretensions The genre, with its sanitized storylines and Oscar-baiting pretensions, seems fundamentally at odds with the iconoclastic chef and television personality. — Seija Rankin, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026 Like Paul Schrader’s 1982 version of the latter, this is an upscale genre piece whose pretensions towards Art are upfront, starting with a quotation from no less than Schopenhauer. — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 30 July 2026 At 61, unaligned to any party faction and with no pretensions to the highest office, the Scot would represent little threat to Burnham. — Ian King, CNBC, 15 July 2026 The British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, who converted to Christianity late in his life, pointed out that Jesus’s entire ministry was directed against the pretensions of earthly power. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026 Adley and his team make great tasting plates first and foremost, but some of the items, like the unmissable chicken wings stuffed with boudin blanc and romesco, act as a cheeky affront to haute cuisine’s pretensions and conventions. — Colin Wrenn, Denver Post, 3 June 2026 Traditionally, Oscars hosts have been at their best when puncturing the pretensions of the stars in attendance, but for the most part, host Conan O’Brien bought into their sense of their own righteousness. — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 20 Mar. 2026 By the early 1950s, many clerics had come to see the Pahlavi monarchy, for all its secular pretensions, as a manageable partner. — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 5 Mar. 2026 The war with Ukraine has revealed the yawning gap between Russia’s pretensions and its capabilities. — George F. Will, Washington Post, 27 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretensions

Noun

For families who believe their child's rights were violated based on race, disability, or gender in school, the federal agency often has been one of the main places to turn.

— Claire Sibonney, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026
The entry of streaming services such as Amazon, Apple and Netflix have only increased the rights fees.

— Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of rights

Noun

The Sun conjoins Mercury in Virgo and your 10th House of Career, Reputation, Authority, and Public Life, helping your goals become easier to explain.

— Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
Sanchez also had a pair of goals in the Courage’s 2-1 victory over the Boston Legacy on Saturday.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of goals

Noun

Anthropic wanted assurance that its technology would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance, and the DOD wanted Anthropic to grant the agency unfettered access to Claude across all lawful purposes.

— Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Governments generally don’t need a model that’s as powerful as what’s on the frontier to automate a few tasks; Ting explains that a tiny model, even one with as few as 1 billion parameters, can suit those purposes.

— Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of purposes

Noun

The strategic mistake of invading Iraq on false pretenses was then compounded by tactical errors.

— Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
Johnson created the story of Nancy (Emilia Jones), who is not a girlfriend, but a crush who Bourdain foolhardily (and under false pretenses) follows to Provincetown after not getting a writing fellowship.

— Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of pretenses

Noun

Riders from different teams—direct competitors with different sponsors, leaders, and ambitions—form a dense, fast-moving pack.

— Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review, 27 Aug. 2026
There’s a glint of Miss Piggy’s quick wit in the comedic edge and blonde ambitions of Jennifer Coolidge.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of ambitions

Noun

In December, Australia became the first country to ban social media for kids under 16, and countries including Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Indonesia have since enacted or approved similar plans.

— Rachel Hale, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Several Kansas City community leaders are calling for residents to have a meaningful role in selecting the city’s next police chief, weeks after Stacey Graves announced plans to retire next year.

— Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of plans

Noun

Moving away from a retrospective punishment mechanism appealed to Portsmouth too, as did the shift to a focus on liquidity, something which meshes with the aims of the independent football regulator, which recently came into operation in England.

— Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
Vance’s comments also seemed to suggest that the administration was more acutely focused on the economic impact of the war than the original aims of the war itself.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of aims

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pretension

pretensions

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“Pretensions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretensions. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of pretensions

noun

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