pretense /prɪˈtens/(名词):假装;伪装;虚饰;也可指借口、托词(较正式)。常指为了掩盖真实感受或意图而表现出来的“表面样子”。
She dropped her pretense and admitted she was scared.
她放下伪装,承认自己其实很害怕。
Under the pretense of friendship, he gathered information to use against them later.
他以友谊为幌子收集情报,之后用来对付他们。
/prɪˈtens/
来自中古法语 pretence,再上溯到拉丁语 praetendere,意为“伸到前面、摆在前面”,引申为“把某种说法或姿态摆在前面”,因此形成“假装、托词”的含义。