Pretence vs Off - What's the difference?
pretence | off |
(label) An act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext.
* 1819 , Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Coote, The History of England, from the Earliest Times to the Death of George the Second , Volume 3,
*:Great armaments were therefore put on foot in Moravia and Bohemia, while the elector of Saxony, under a pretence of military parade, drew together about sixteen thousand men, which were posted in a strong situation at Pima.
*
*:There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. Pushing men hustle each other at the windows of the purser's office, under pretence of expecting letters or despatching telegrams.
*1995 , Charlie Lewis, Peter Mitchell, Children?s Early Understanding Of Mind: Origins And Development ,
*:In pilot work we have used the method described in Experiment 2 on children?s memory for the content of their own false beliefs and pretence' and asked them to differentiate between belief and ' pretence .
*2005 , (Plato), Lesley Brown (translator), Sophist , .
*:That part of education that turned up in the latest phase of our argument, the cross-examination of the empty pretence of wisdom, is none other, we must declare, than the true-blooded kind of sophistry.
(label) Intention; design.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:A very pretence and purpose of unkindness.
In a direction away from the speaker or object.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or
Into a state of non-operation; into a state of non-existence.
Inoperative, disabled.
:All the lights are off .
Rancid, rotten.
:This milk is off !
(cricket) In, or towards the half of the field away from the batsman's legs; the right side for a right-handed batsman.
Less than normal, in temperament or in result.
:sales are off this quarter
Circumstanced (as in well off'', ''better off'', ''poorly off ).
*
Started on the way.
:off to see the wizard
:And they're off ! Whatsmyname takes an early lead, with Remember The Mane behind by a nose.
*
Far; off to the side.
:the off horse or ox in a team, in distinction from the nigh or near horse
*
*:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
*1937 , (Zora Neale Hurston), Their Eyes Were Watching God , Harper Perennial (2000), p.151:
*:He came in, took a look and squinched down into a chair in an off corner and didn’t open his mouth.
Designating a time when one is not strictly attentive to business or affairs, or is absent from a post, and, hence, a time when affairs are not urgent.
:He took an off''' day for fishing. an '''off''' year in politics; the '''off season
(Used to indicate movement away from a position on)
(colloquial) Out of the possession of.
Away from or not on.
Disconnected or subtracted from.
Distant from.
No longer wanting or taking.
(slang) To kill.
(Singapore) To switch off.
As a noun pretence
is (label) an act of pretending or pretension; a false claim or pretext.As an adverb off is
in a direction away from the speaker or object.As an adjective off is
inoperative, disabled.As a preposition off is
(used to indicate movement away from a position on).As a verb off is
(slang) to kill.pretence
English
Alternative forms
* pretense (American spelling) * (archaic)Noun
(en noun)p.115,
p.281,
off
English
Adverb
(en adverb)Usage notes
* Used in many , off'' is an adverbial particle often mistakenly thought of as a preposition. (It ''can be used as a preposition, but such usage is rare and usually informal; see below.)Synonyms
* away, outAntonyms
* on, inDerived terms
* back off * bite off * break off * bring off * call off * clean off * cut off, cutoff * die off * drop off * fall off * fuck off * get off * go off * goof off * hold off * keep off * kick off, kickoff * knock off * lay off, layoff * leave off * let off * light off * live off * make off * make off with * nod off * pay off, payoff * piss off * pull off * put off * ring off * rip off, ripoff * round off * run off, runoff * see off * set off * show off, showoff * sleep off * shake off * switch off * take off * tell off * tick off * turn off, turnoff * walk it off * wear offAdjective
(en adjective)Antonyms
* (inoperative) on * (rotten) fresh * (cricket) on, legDerived terms
* off to the racesPreposition
(English prepositions)- I took it off''' the table.''; ''Come '''off the roof!
- He didn't buy it off''' him. He stole it '''off him.
- He's off''' the computer, but he's still on the phone.''; ''Keep '''off the grass.
- We've been off''' the grid for three days now.''; ''He took 20% '''off the list price.
- We're just off''' the main road.''; ''The island is 23 miles ' off the cape.
- He's been off''' his feed since Tuesday.''; ''He's '''off his meds again.
- Tantalum bar 6 off 3/8" Dia × 12" — Atom, Great Britain Atomic Energy Authority, 1972
- samples submitted … 12 off Thermistors type 1K3A531 … — BSI test report for shock and vibration testing, 2000
- I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off .
Antonyms
*Derived terms
* off-campus * off one's feedVerb
(en verb)- He got in the way so I had him offed .
- Can you off the light?