pseudo

Everyday

1. (prefix) «pseudo-» means false or pretend, looking like something it is not: pseudoscience, pseudonym. tree →
2. (informal adjective) Fake, not genuine, or pretending to be clever: «His pseudo-intellectual talk annoyed everyone.» tree →

In the lessons

Mostly met as a prefix in school words: a pseudonym is a pen name (Mark Twain was a pseudonym), pseudoscience is a claim that looks like science but does not use proper evidence (like horoscopes). In maths and computing, «pseudocode» is a plan for a program written in simple words.

Examples

• Mark Twain is the pseudonym of Samuel Clemens. tree →
• Astrology is a pseudoscience, not a real science. tree →
• Write your program in pseudocode first. tree →
• His pseudo-friendliness didn't fool anyone. tree →
• Some authors use a pseudonym to stay private. tree →
• The advert used pseudo-scientific words to sound clever. tree →

Note

Mostly a prefix; on its own it is informal. The «p» is silent: «SOO-doh» or «SYOO-doh». From Greek «pseudes», false.

In Jewish tradition

In these texts it is just the "false" prefix, as in "Pseudo-Ben Sira", the name given to a later work wrongly credited to Ben Sira. In the primary lessons: Mostly met as a prefix in school words: a pseudonym is a pen name (Mark Twain was a pseudonym), pseudoscience is a claim that looks like science but does not use proper evidence (like horoscopes). In maths and computing, «pseudocode» is a plan for a program written in simple words.

Examples

• Like Ecclesiasticus, the Pseudo-I3en Sira's "Alpha- bet of ben Sira" was also attributed to Joshua ben Jehozadak. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

Mostly a prefix; on its own it is informal. The «p» is silent: «SOO-doh» or «SYOO-doh». From Greek «pseudes», false.