pretense

“We sincerely hope that this review is not merely a pretense for removing California’s ability to hold public hearings on offshore oil and gas projects,” said Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the Coastal Commission.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Rubio added that the Nicaraguan leader and his wife, Rosario Murillo, whom Ortega named as his "co-president" in February 2025, had "abandoned even the pretense of popular consent".

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Eschewing any pretense of modesty, he says the Kennedy decision was a dead letter.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

Argentina long ago abandoned any pretense of being a soccer workers’ collective, while Scaloni ditched any pretense that he was really in charge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Briony, who had been on her knees in a pretense of prayer, stood and turned to face the procession as it reached her.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Barofsky said Fain declared under false pretenses that Boyer had been derelict in his duties.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

It helps, too, that, by the nature of the film’s long-winded narrative structure, we’re able to witness the pretenses between Mary and Sam slowly fall away.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026

Meanwhile, Lori, a young Black woman hired under false pretenses as an assistant, stares mutely.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

But that news is tempered by the drumbeat of reports from the other end of the airport, where scores of arriving travelers have been detained in frightening conditions and under flimsy pretenses.

From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2025

Her mom had never put up any pretenses about being overly religious.

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson