Pretendants

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of individuals who claim or aspire to a particular title or position without legitimate proof of the right to such
2. People putting forth a facade of entitlement or authority over something that they do not genuinely possess
3. Individuals who seek to represent or demonstrate qualities that suggest they are worthy of a certain status or role when they may not be

Etymology: "Pretendants" is the plural of "pretendant," a noun for someone who makes a false claim to a title. It came into English from Middle French, where "pretendant" was the present participle of "pretendre," meaning "to claim." Its English form is shaped by the word "pretend," so the ending "-ant" follows the same pattern as other words that have passed through French from Latin present participles. The word's history is closer to its literal sense than its modern tone suggests. Its Latin ancestor, "praetendere," meant "to stretch out before," and the sense of "claim" grew out of the idea of holding something out as one's own. Over time, "pretendre" in French came to mean asserting a right to something, and in English the noun narrowed to claimants to a throne or title whose right was disputed.