pretender
noun
pre·tend·er
pri-ˈten-dər 
: one that pretends: such as
a
: one who lays claim to something
specifically
: a claimant to a throne who is held to have no just title
b
: one who makes a false or hypocritical show
Synonyms
Examples of pretender in a Sentence
it turns out that the guy who claimed to work for a modeling agency was just a pretender
Recent Examples on the Web
After two games played in South Korea last week, the schedule begins stateside in earnest tomorrow (March 29), with the Texas Rangers aiming to defend their World Series championship against the usual slate of contenders and pretenders.
—
Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
To go along with the pretender aesthetic, a lot of the parts under the glass are fake.
—Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 14 July 2023
Friends turn into enemies and enemies become friends, among politicians and pretenders.
—Laurel Rosenhall, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
Theme of the season: Conference race The leaders won, the pretenders lost and separation continued on the top shelf of the standings.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2024
There have been interim pretenders to the throne, some more successful than others.
—USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024
Why a core, aging at that, that’s won four championships gets run over by contenders and out-hustled by pretenders not only physically, but mentally.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2024
The difficulty facing the pretenders to the FTX throne lies in establishing trust among crypto investors.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2023
Stay for Keoghan twirling in circles, with nothing but shafts of late afternoon light and the entirety of what God gave him expressing the bliss of going from pretender to predator.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023
Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 27 Mar. 2024
To go along with the pretender aesthetic, a lot of the parts under the glass are fake.
—Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 14 July 2023
Friends turn into enemies and enemies become friends, among politicians and pretenders.
—Laurel Rosenhall, Los Angeles Times, 29 Feb. 2024
Theme of the season: Conference race The leaders won, the pretenders lost and separation continued on the top shelf of the standings.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2024
There have been interim pretenders to the throne, some more successful than others.
—USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024
Why a core, aging at that, that’s won four championships gets run over by contenders and out-hustled by pretenders not only physically, but mentally.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2024
The difficulty facing the pretenders to the FTX throne lies in establishing trust among crypto investors.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2023
Stay for Keoghan twirling in circles, with nothing but shafts of late afternoon light and the entirety of what God gave him expressing the bliss of going from pretender to predator.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretender.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Pretender.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretender. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pretender
noun
pre·tend·er
pri-ˈten-dər
1
: a person who pretends
2
: a person who claims a throne without right
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