Excuse
Excuse noun - An explanation that frees one from fault or blame.
Usage example: “a really important business call” is no excuse for not paying proper attention to one's driving
Pretense
Pretense noun - A display of emotion or behavior that is insincere or intended to deceive.
Usage example: her display of bravado was just a pretense
Excuse is a synonym for pretense in falsehood topic. You can use "Excuse" instead a noun "Pretense", if it concerns topics such as dishonesty.
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
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He even arranges their first meeting under the pretense of doing a photo shoot of her, just to have an excuse to talk.
Source: Film / Lord of War -
Excuse Plot: The earlier versions made a pretense that the game is about mercenaries waging a shadow war, the default maps being what youd expect (industrial and urban areas).
Source: Video Game / Urban Terror -
As John Lithgow points out, they could get away with really outrageous things under the pretense of "they're aliens, so they don't know any better." Note how Mary, who doesn't have that excuse, never really crosses the line of normal sitcom character behavior.
Source: Series / 3rd Rock from the Sun
Cite this Source
Pretense and Excuse. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/excuse/pretense
Excuse & Pretense. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/excuse/pretense>.
Pretense or Excuse. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/excuse/pretense.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "excuse" and "pretense" have occurred on timeline