masquerade vs pretext

masquerade

noun
  • An act of living under false pretenses; a concealment of something by a false or unreal show; a disguise, a pretence; also, a pretentious display. 

  • The act of wearing a mask or dressing up in a costume for, or as if for, a masquerade ball. 

  • An assembly of varied, often fanciful, things. 

  • An assembly or party of people wearing (usually elaborate or fanciful) masks and costumes, and amusing themselves with dancing, conversation, or other diversions. 

  • A cosplay event at which costumed attendees perform skits. 

verb
  • To conceal (someone) with, or as if with, a mask; to disguise. 

  • To take part in a masquerade; to assemble in masks and costumes; (loosely) to wear a disguise. 

  • To pass off as a different person or a person with qualities that one does not possess; also, to make a pretentious show of being what one is not. 

pretext

noun
  • A false, contrived, or assumed purpose or reason; a pretense. 

verb
  • To employ a pretext, which involves using a false or contrived purpose for soliciting the gain of something else. 

How often have the words masquerade and pretext occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )