All 3 Uses of
pretense
in
The Joy Luck Club
- "No, I really must go now, thank you, thank you," I say, glad I remembered how the pretense goes.†
Chpt 2pretense = a false appearance or action to help one pretend
- Inside, the house held a different kind of pretense.†
Chpt 4
- One minute she was talking to my father, complaining about the tenants upstairs, scheming how to evict them under the pretense that relatives from China were moving in.
Chpt 20 *pretense = something that helps one pretend
Definition:
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.