How to Use pretense in a Sentence
pretense
noun
- We tried to keep up the pretense that everything was fine.
- Their indifference is merely pretense.
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All the veil is off now about the pretense of what this was about.
—
Foreign Affairs,
17 July 2023
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In prison and court, there was never any pretense about the nature of the crime.
—
Allison McCann,
New York Times,
16 July 2022
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Yet the film barely musters the pretense that any of this matters.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
21 Apr. 2023
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Why does Putin feel the need to put out these weird pretenses?
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Mary Ilyushina,
Washington Post,
5 Oct. 2023
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The Rances described the Vineyard as the Hamptons without the pretense.
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Helena Andrews-Dyer,
Washington Post,
20 Aug. 2022
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Very personal, not a lot of ego, not a lot of pretense.
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Todd Gilchrist,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2023
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Above all, these pieces should be easy to wear without pretense.
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Felicity Carter,
Forbes,
16 May 2022
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This year, Newsom abandoned any State of the State pretense.
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George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2023
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This thing, the funeral of their father, would be a pretense.
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Graham Swift,
The New Yorker,
14 Nov. 2022
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Others want to skip all the pretense and just chilllll.
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Christian Gollayan,
Men's Health,
27 June 2023
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McCain and his wife had adopted a daughter from Bangladesh, and this act was used as a pretense to attack him.
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Taylor Wilson,
USA TODAY,
26 Jan. 2024
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There's nothing made up about him, there's no pretense or falseness.
—
Nate Davis,
USA TODAY,
13 Feb. 2022
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Again, there’s no pretense of knowledge here to make a statement either way.
—
John Tamny,
Forbes,
13 Apr. 2022
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Aside from the pretense on the phone, the scammers do surprisingly little to cover their tracks.
—
Jon Healey,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Dec. 2022
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Now, even the pretense of enforcement is breaking down.
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The Editors,
National Review,
11 May 2023
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The truth is the professionalism won Game 4 over pretense.
—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Apr. 2022
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The essays or interaction will be as though Lincoln was doing things, though, of course, this is all a pretense by the AI.
—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
11 Dec. 2023
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These pretenses and minimizations are part of what prompted her to write the book.
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Hannah Rosefield,
The New Republic,
8 June 2023
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The secretary-general is a man who has smashed any pretense of a U.N. moral compass.
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Benjamin Weinthal,
Fox News,
29 Oct. 2023
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Here are two examples that will add the fizz to your evening without expense, pretense or pressure.
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Dave McIntyre,
Washington Post,
2 Feb. 2023
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Quintana said his Ukrainian lawyer told him the document was a pretense to block him from leaving.
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Amy Taxin,
ajc,
18 Mar. 2022
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No pretense, in other words, just a down-to-earth invitation to enjoy some wine.
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Washington Post,
18 Feb. 2022
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Faced with the near certainty of a guilty verdict, defense lawyers decided to drop any pretense of doubt.
—
Rafael Olmeda,
Sun Sentinel,
13 Oct. 2022
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This is not the first time a Thaksin proxy government has been brought down by the Constitutional Court on a flimsy pretense.
—
Time,
26 July 2023
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People lie, certainly, but everyone is a little too jaded to keep up the pretense once the other has guessed the truth.
—
Lili Loofbourow,
Washington Post,
29 Nov. 2023
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But, no, there is and can be no pretense this time around of Riley moving in such a direction with a team where there is no history.
—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Aug. 2022
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The current iteration of the Tories lacks even the pretense of compassion.
—
Kehinde Andrews,
CNN,
26 Oct. 2022
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Oh yes, the other co-author tried a similar bill two years ago, without even the pretense of democracy, and just failed.
—
Stefan Bean,
Orange County Register,
12 Feb. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretense.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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