pretense

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.

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

From Slate • Feb. 28, 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

Ironically, the situation now is a bastard version of one reform favored by free market types: paying athletes without any pretense that they are real students.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 2025

Admittedly, much of social life consists of maintaining a thin pretense of normality.

From Salon • Sep. 1, 2025

Finally Scrimgeour said, with no pretense at warmth, “I see. You prefer — like your hero, Dumbledore — to disassociate yourself from the Ministry?”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling