Pretended

How to spell pretended

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce pretended

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pretended mean?

1. verbActed as though something untrue were the case, or feigned a feeling or action.
2. adjectivePut on for effect rather than genuine; feigned or false.

Pretended in a sentence

• verb

  He pretended to be busy so he could leave the meeting early.

• adjective

  His pretended surprise at the party fooled nobody.

• verb

  The children pretended the cardboard box was a spaceship.

• adjective

  Her pretended indifference hid how much the news upset her.

Where does pretended come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word goes back to the Latin verb praetendere, which literally meant 'to stretch forth' or 'to hold something out in front', built from prae- meaning 'before' and tendere meaning 'to stretch'. In Roman usage it took on the figurative sense of putting something forward as a reason or an excuse, often a false one. English borrowed it through Old French in the late 1300s and early 1400s, and the idea of 'putting forward a claim' gradually shaded into the modern meaning of feigning or making believe. The same tendere root still stretches through many familiar relatives such as 'extend', 'tension', and 'tendency'. Knowing the buried 'tend' helps with the spelling, since the middle of the word is simply the verb 'tend' wrapped between pre- and -ed.

How the word is built

• pre- (before, forth)
• tend (from Latin tendere: to stretch)
• -ed (past tense suffix)