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

"To sentence my 69-year-old father under the pretext that his actions lowered the 'likelihood' of my return to stand trial is not justice; it is a judicial farce," she said.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 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

He even posed as a slave catcher named “James Olney,” prying slaves from jail on the pretext of delivering them to their masters.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead