All 9 Uses

pretense
in
The Crucible
(Edited)

ABIGAIL, in tears: I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men!
p. 24.2

pretense = false appearance
Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away—make your peace!
p. 80.9

pretense = appearances or actions to help one pretend
DANFORTH, ...: And you, Mary Warren, how came you to cry out people for sending their spirits against you?
MARY WARREN: It were pretense, sir.
p. 89.1

pretense = deception (lying or pretending something is true)
PROCTOR: It were pretense, she says.
p. 89.2
...and confess your pretense, for a quick confession will go easier with you.
p. 102.8 *
HATHORNE, with a gleam of victory: And yet, when people accused of witchery confronted you in court, you would faint, saying their spirits came out of their bodies and choked you—
MARY WARREN: That were pretense, sir.
p. 106.3
MARY WARREN: Pretense, sir.
p. 106.4
PROCTOR: It is a pretense, Elizabeth.
p. 136.2
Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will not blind God nor keep my children out of the wind.
p. 136.7

pretense = something that helps one pretend

Definitions:

(1) (pretense)
a false appearance or action to help one pretend

This is sometimes seen in the expression "false pretense" or "false pretenses" which is just emphasizing that behavior or actions do not reflect the true situation.
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)