appearance vs pretending

appearance and pretending both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
appearance	Yes	No	No	No
pretending	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, pretending is a hypernym of appearance; that is, pretending is a word with a broader meaning than appearance:

appearance: pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression
pretending: the act of giving a false appearance

Other hypernyms of appearance include feigning, pretence, pretense, simulation.

appearance (noun)	pretending (noun)
the act of appearing in public view	the act of giving a false appearance
formal attendance (in court or at a hearing) of a party in an action
pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
a mental representation
the event of coming into sight