-pretender-

n. 1. One who lays claim, or asserts a title (to something); a claimant. Specifically, The pretender (Eng. Hist.), the son or the grandson of James II., the heir of the royal family of Stuart, who laid claim to the throne of Great Britain, from which the house was excluded by law. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is the shallow, unimproved intellects that are the confident pretenders to certainty. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who pretends, simulates, or feigns. [ 1913 Webster ]