pretense

n.

借口；（无事实根据的）要求；自称；假装

复数：pretenses

1. It is merely a pretense.
   这只是托词而已。
2. You answered me with no pretense.
   你坦诚相见的回答了我。
3. Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.
   弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。
4. He cheated me under the pretense of friendship.
   他假借友谊欺骗我。
5. The pretense of greatness will be the proof of it, and powerful men with many severe faults will rule over all the classes on earth.
   自称为伟大的会是拥有很多错误的有权势的人，他们支配着地上的所有阶级。

On the pretense theory of irony.
A cognitive theory of pretense.
Verbal irony: Pretense or echoic mention?
Pretense and representation: Trie origins of theory of mind
Pretense and representation: The origins of "theory of mind."
Pretense and representation in infancy : the origins of 'theory of mind'
Young children's understanding of pretense expressions of independent agency
Young children's conceptualization of pretense: Action or mental representational state?
How about another piece of pie: the allusional pretense theory of discourse irony.
Macroeconomics after the Crisis: Time to Deal with the Pretense-of-Knowledge Syndrome