pretender

plural pretenders

1. obsoleterareOne who intends or purposes.

   Pretensor, a pretender, he that purposeth.

   1591, Percivall, Sp. Dict.

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   Pretendente, a pretendent, a pretender, an intender, a meaner.

   1598, Florio

2. One who puts forth a claim, or who aspires to or aims at something; a claimant, candidate, or aspirant; now, one who makes baseless pretensions.

   Every one is a pretender and a runner; but few carry the prize.

   1646, H. Lawrence, Comm. Angells 116

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   By how straight a Rule […] must that Pretender carry himselfe, who is to saile thorow the sea of this world, hoping for a fortune from another mans hand?

   1622, Mabbe, Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf 1.214

   […]; to consider the direct purposes of God against his enemies, rather than the sinister supplantations of pretenders to places in court; […]

   a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “Sermon XXX”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 8

   The issue of the eldest son excludes all other pretenders, as the son himself (if living) would have done.

   1766, William Blackstone, chapter 14, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book II (Of the Rights of Things), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 218

   A candidate for a school at Brewood in Staffordshire; to which, I think, there are seventeen pretenders.

   1780 May 25th, Johnson, Let. to Mrs. Thrale

   I would sooner gain five thousand pounds by restoring you to your rights, than fifty thousand in establishing any of these pretenders in their base assumptions.

   1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book IV, page 238

   1. obsoleteOne who aspires to the hand of a woman in marriage; a suitor, a wooer.

      He, of the two pretenders, that best loves me.

      1613–1614 (date written), John Fletcher, William Shak[e]speare, The Two Noble Kinsmen: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Waterson; […], published 1634, →OCLC, Act I, scene v, page 1

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      An Earles daughter, […] whose mother not allowing him to come as a pretender shee made apointmentt with him and mett him att her cousin’s howse.

      ante 1699, Lady Halkett, Autobiog. 17 (Camden)

      It is not my design to dispose of Irene to the most noble, but most wealthy of the Pretenders to her Love.

      1728 (1732), Eliza Heywood, Mme. de Gomez’s Belle A. 2.235

   2. A claimant to a throne or the office of a ruler; originally in a neutral sense, but now always applied to a claimant who is held to have no just title.

      If inteſtine Broils allarm the Hive, / (For two Pretenders oft for Empire ſtrive)

      1697, Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 125

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      I Think it necessary to acquaint you, that I have received Advices this Morning from Ostend, that the French Fleet sailed from Dunkirk, Tuesday at three in the Morning, Northward, with the Pretender on board; as also, that Sir George Byng had notice of it the same Day at ten: And he being very much superior to the Enemy both in Number and Strength, I make no question, but, by God’s Blessing, he will soon be able to give a good Account of them.

      1708 March 11th, Anne Regina, The Queen’s Speech to both Houses, in The History and Proceedings of the House of Commons, volume IV: 1706–1713, London: Chandler (1742), § iv: “First Parliament of Great Britain”, page 92

      She [Q. Anne] also fixed a new Designation on the Pretended Prince of Wales, and called him the Pretender; he was so called in a new Set of Addresses […] upon this occasion […] made to the Queen.

      c. 1715, Burnet, Own Time 2.503

      the provost’s enemies at the council-table of the burgh used to observe that he uttered there many a bold harangue against the Pretender, and in favour of King George and government, of which he dared not have pronounced a syllable in his own bedchamber

      1824 June, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Redgauntlet, […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 238

      The pretender […] had friends in the tory government more sincere probably and zealous than [the earl of] Oxford.

      1827 (1876), Hallam, Const. Hist. 3.16.223

      Wullenweber […] turned to the nearest protestant pretender, Duke Christian, and offered him his assistance to obtain the crown.

      1845, S. Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref. 3.633

3. One who pretends or lays claim to something; one who makes a profession, show, or assertion, especially without adequate grounds, falsely, or with intent to deceive; a dissembler, deceiver, charlatan, hypocrite.

   That honour has been long The boast of mere pretenders to the name.

   1782, William Cowper, “The Diverting History of John Gilpin, […]”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], published 1785, →OCLC, page 492

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   A pretender / To the art, I truely honor, and ſubſcribe / To your maieſties opinion.

   1631 (first performance), Philip Massinger, The Emperour of the East. A Tragæ-comœdie. […], London: […] Thomas Harper, for Iohn Waterson, published 1632, →OCLC, Act II, scene i

   Make it a feast, and perfit your great injustice / In the surrendringe up this false pretender / To the correction of the law, […]

   1631 May 17 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Philip Massinger, Believe as You List: A Tragedy (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]; XXVII), London: […] [F]or the Percy Society, by Richards, […], published 1849, →OCLC, Act II, scene i

   But this pretence of Covenant with God, is so evident a lye, even in the pretenders own consciences, that it is not onely an act of an unjust, but also a vile, and unmanly disposition.

   1651, Thomas Hobbes, chapter 18, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 2nd part (Of Common-wealth), page 89

   […]But, I answer; that it is not so easy an Acquirement as a few ignorant Pretenders may imagine.

   1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Introduction to the Following Treatise”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page xlv

   I presume that there is no gentleman in Europe that has not heard of the house of Barry of Barryogue, of the kingdom of Ireland, than which a more famous name is not to be found in Gwillim or D’Hozier; and though, as a man of the world, I have learned to despise heartily the claims of some pretenders to high birth who have no more genealogy than the lacquey who cleans my boots, […]

   1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “My Pedigree and Family.—Undergo the Influence of the Tender Passion.”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC, page 3

4. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.

   Synonyms: dissembler, flip-flopper, hypocrite, phony, bamboozler, bouncer, bullshitter, cheat

present singular third person pretenders · participle present pretendering · participle past pretendered · past pretendered

1. uncommonTo tender (a bid, etc.) in advance.

   The prime contractor is then required to incorporate this pretendered work into his project schedule. In a similar fashion, the owner may want direct control over special materials needed on his project.

   1980 September 8, H. N. Ahuja, Successful Construction Cost Control, John Wiley & Sons, page 177

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   The LPM coordinates closely with the EPM and the case attorney throughout the pretendering period. The Licensing Assistant (LA) in the assigned project branch requests that a project number be assigned by the Records Facilities[…]

   1979, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 1980: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, First Session, page 1016

   Long-term delivery items were pretendered and purchased by the Government of the Northwest Territories in early 1975. Pretendered items included the polyethylene pipe and Victaulic couplings, a portable gasoline engine driven pump[…]

   1979, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, volume 6

   These included pretendered "direct call-off" contracts covering over 50,000 products and services; the "Pathfinder" service for larger or more complex procurements; and direct sales and spot buying, where TBA coordinates volume[…]

   1999 11, Bernard L. Ungar, Procurement Reform: How Selected Countries Perform Certain Gsa Activities, DIANE Publishing, →ISBN, page 17

   The expanded pretendering activities will be initiated about 9 months prior to the proposed tendering of an application and will be designed to provide additional guidance and direction to the applicant during the preparation of its[…]

   (Can we date this quote?), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Standards Development, Regulatory Guide, page 12