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Showing results for pretense. Search instead for pre-tense.
Definitions

pretense

[pri-tens, pree-tens] / prɪˈtɛns, ˈpri tɛns /


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.

He was instead dispensing with even the pretense that he was open to hearing the Obama administration’s arguments.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026

Yet he did not muster even the pretense of evidence that they pose an “imminent threat.”

From Slate • Feb. 28, 2026

It was an uncompromising response without any pretense the administration would rely on independent investigations of the event, video of which quickly circulated online, gripping the nation.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

Five days earlier, at around 7 a.m., the couple had crossed the border into Kazakhstan in a hired Toyota Hiace van, under the pretense of taking a vacation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

The only result was that the horse broke into a kind of pretense of a trot for five or six paces and then subsided into a walk again.

From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis




Vocabulary lists containing pretense


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