pretext
Example Sentences
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“The FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the stations’ licenses,” Disney’s attorneys wrote in the filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
We still see this in so many cases involving the Fourth Amendment, when police use the alleged smell of marijuana as a pretext for an illegal search.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
Eventually, they flew her to Ahmedabad under the pretext of visiting a sick relative.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
But some industry watchers say firms are using the technology as a pretext for other cost-cutting.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
It was merely a pretext to invite her to lunch, which I did.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
No surprise, the panel agreed with him and concocted pretexts to kill the treatment—for instance, the staff opined that maybe biopsies had zapped the tumors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Syrian foreign ministry denounced the attack as "an outrageous assault on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and called Israel's justification "flimsy pretexts and fabricated excuses".
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
"The pretexts used to justify such actions are untenable. Ideological hostility has triumphed over businesslike pragmatism," it added.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
In Philadelphia, for example, after the aforementioned drop in citations, the city decided to phase out police enforcement of minor traffic violations, including dubious pretexts like “rearview mirror decorations.”
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2023
Thus the Red and White Roses were united and the pretexts for civil war done away with.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various
Vocabulary lists containing pretext
Animal Farm
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Grade 11, List 2
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