pretext

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.

Prosecutors say the first team of Russian operatives arrived in Angola's capital, Luanda, in 2024 under the pretext of opening a Russian cultural centre, a project that never materialised.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026

“They use it as a pretext, even in regions where there is no such danger.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026

“It’s all pretext and obfuscation when the real agenda is rejecting conventional science and serving a predetermined anti-vaccine agenda,” Richard Hughes IV, a law professor at George Washington University, told The Guardian.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026

Yet even if relations warm, China is likely to continue use Takaichi's statements as a pretext to justify expanding its military activities, analysts said.

From Barron's • Feb. 9, 2026

It was such an unforeseen attitude that Amaranta Úrsula felt humiliated by the idea that she had given her husband the pretext that he had wanted in order to abandon her to her fate.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez