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.

Pitino has made a smooth transition to college basketball’s wild new order, in which the pretense of amateurism has been abandoned and the transfer portal reshapes the roster every 12 months.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

This is the kind of art that would find a suitable home in a crypto king’s Miami mansion, and whose pretense of depth can’t conceal its wallowing in the shallows.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

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

From Slate • Feb. 28, 2026

His publicists invited her under the pretense of a business dinner with Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, then White surprised Dobrev instead.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2025

Among the variety of animals I keep in cages in the garden I have four monkeys and a bat-eared fox that will escape on the slightest pretense from the boy who cleans out the cages.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver