pretext
Example Sentences
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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
“I guess it can be seen as a pretext for the album. Just … be sweet,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
But some industry watchers say firms are using the technology as a pretext for other cost-cutting.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
In January, he released a startling video disclosing he was under investigation and labeling it a pretext to pressure the central bank to cut rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 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
Actions over the Fed building were "pretexts", he said.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
"The pretexts used to justify such actions are untenable. Ideological hostility has triumphed over businesslike pragmatism," it added.
From Barron's ● Jan. 3, 2026
Her lawyer said in an email that the performance review “is further retaliation and an attempt to create further pretexts for the adverse employment actions the Board has already taken against her.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2024
Resignations occurred upon discreditable pretexts, and became alarmingly prevalent.
From The Loyalists of Massachusetts And the Other Side of the American Revolution by James H. Stark
Vocabulary lists containing pretext
Animal Farm
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Grade 11, List 2
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