pretense

The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation.

He visited the king under the pretense of friendliness.

"Lady Little", the title that she used, was just a pretense.

Affectation or ostentation of manner.

She was a plain-speaking woman without a hint of pretense.

Intention or purpose not real but professed.

with only a pretense of accuracy

An unsupported claim made or implied.

He was gentlemanly, steady, tractable, with a thorough knowledge of his duties; and in time, when yet very young, he became chief mate of a fine ship, without ever having been tested by those events of the sea that show in the light of day the inner worth of a man, the edge of his temper, and the fibre of his stuff; that reveal the quality of his resistance and the secret truth of his pretences, not only to others but also to himself.

They wished to demask hidden metaphysics, to demask the false pretenses of sentences purportively descriptive but de facto metaphysical or evaluative.

An insincere attempt to reach a specific condition or quality.