pretence

UK (US pretense)

/prɪˈtens/ noun

Definition

› [U] when you make someone believe something that is not true: I can't keep up the pretence (= continue pretending) any longer. They made absolutely no pretence of being interested.

under false pretences › If you do something under false pretences, you do it when you have lied about who you are or what you are doing: The police charged him with obtaining money under false pretences.

(Definition of pretence noun from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)