pretense

In the past, winks at some of the fouler ideas out there was enough to titillate the audience while keeping up the pretense of respectability.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026

Any pretense at acceptance has long been discarded.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

“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

It is supplying the constitutional context and stripping away the pretense courts so often cling to when they want to stay out of the fray.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

She’d managed to convince him to give her a tour under the pretense of extreme boredom—when, in fact, she’d used every moment to plot a dozen escape routes from her room.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

States have resorted to Rube Goldberg-like schemes to obtain drugs from abroad, sometimes under false pretenses, or have used drugs that are expired or improperly stored.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Both suspects were arrested following the search and now face multiple felony charges, including grand theft, receiving stolen property and theft by false pretenses, according to authorities.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 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

He might have despised himself, for he had certainly taken her under false pretenses.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald