pretense

Any pretense at acceptance has long been discarded.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

But with the documentary, we just were open and there was no pretense.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

In the film’s staggering final moments, Spielberg sheds every remaining pretense for the sake of one last plea.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 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

“In cases where people buy properties sight unseen, it would be a stronger case that they made that contract under misleading pretenses and for it to be null and void,” Leben said.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2025

Ultimately, the mental health break and human connection is what online communities like ‘Laid Off’ offer its members: without the gloss or pretenses of traditional social media or the unproductive bureaucracy of an unemployment office.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2025

She had no compunctions about the lie and getting the doll under false pretenses.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith