Which to use
“pretence” and “pretense” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,401
- “pretence” frequency rank
- #28,675
- “pretense” frequency rank
- 69076
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pretence | pretense |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | British standard spelling of pretense. | The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation. |
Same sound, different letters: pretence vs pretense
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. pretence and pretense follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Same sound, different spelling - pretence / pretense
This is the hard kind. pretence and pretense are pronounced identically (/ˈpɹiːtɛns/) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - c in “pretence” becomes s in “pretense”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pretence is recorded at frequency rank #40,401, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹiːtɛns/. pretense is at rank #28,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹiːtɛns/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 69076, this pair ranks #56,080 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pretence vs pretense
Shared letters: enprt. Private to "pretence": c. Private to "pretense": s.
"pretence" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "pretense" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pretence" and "pretense" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pretence" or "pretense"?
After this comparison
"pretence" and "pretense" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "pretence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pretense" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,080 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pretence" and "pretense" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pretence vs pretender". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #56,080 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.