PRETENSE

Pretense (noun) definitions: 1. a claim made or implied; //especially// one not supported by fact. 2. a false show antonyms: honesty, reality

Examples: 1.Fueled by a fervor of religion and vengeance, the villagers of Salem gobble up the far-flung pretenses of Abigail. 2. Proctor knows that the Witch Scandal is pretense- that is, a false construction of Abigail and her malicious minions.

This man, caught up in the paranoia of the Red Scare, makes a pretense about his suspicious neighbor being a communist.

BW