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Definitions

pretext

[pree-tekst] / ˈpri tɛkst /


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.

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“The FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the stations’ licenses,” Disney’s attorneys wrote in the filing.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 30, 2026

We still see this in so many cases involving the Fourth Amendment, when police use the alleged smell of marijuana as a pretext for an illegal search.

From Slate Jun. 18, 2026

Eventually, they flew her to Ahmedabad under the pretext of visiting a sick relative.

From BBC Jun. 1, 2026

But some industry watchers say firms are using the technology as a pretext for other cost-cutting.

From Barron's May 21, 2026

"All we need is some pretext for going down to our ship to-day and taking stuff on board."

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

No surprise, the panel agreed with him and concocted pretexts to kill the treatment—for instance, the staff opined that maybe biopsies had zapped the tumors.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 28, 2026

He is facing his own criminal probe related to cost overruns during renovations of Fed properties - concerns he has called "pretexts".

From BBC Jan. 21, 2026

In his video statement Sunday, Powell dismissed the renovation and testimony as "pretexts".

From Barron's Jan. 13, 2026

In Philadelphia, for example, after the aforementioned drop in citations, the city decided to phase out police enforcement of minor traffic violations, including dubious pretexts like “rearview mirror decorations.”

From Slate Apr. 25, 2023

He asserts that the expeditions against Mindanao and Jolo had cost much unnecessary expenditure of both money and lives; and that Corcuera has attempted to cover up these expenses under specious pretexts.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 29 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Various




Vocabulary lists containing pretext


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