pretext

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

His first choice of prime minister was also dismissed by the courts on a seemingly trivial pretext.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

Instead he uses the war as a pretext for urging modern Britain to “accelerate munitions production” in preparation for a “European War” whose antagonists remain largely unspecified.

From Salon • Apr. 14, 2026

They were going to court for hearings they had to attend, then getting scooped up under a pretext that itself turned out to be a lie.

From Slate • Mar. 27, 2026

"The occupier, under the pretext of security and for its own interests, has closed the mosque," cleric Ayman Abu Najm, who had come from Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, said.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

On the pretext that the private office was needed for something else, Miep took Mr. Dussel upstairs, opened the bookcase and stepped inside, while Mr. Dussel looked on in amazement.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank