on/under false pretenses
idiom
: by pretending that a certain condition or circumstance was true
The loan was obtained on/under false pretenses.
Examples of on/under false pretenses in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The president sold us on invading a sovereign country on false pretenses.
—
Moustafa Bayoumi, The New Republic, 7 Dec. 2022
The fact is that the supplement industry is under-regulated, which means that products are marketed and sold on false pretenses.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2022
Kidnapping is a high legal threshold, but migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard say they were taken there on false pretenses.
—Elliot Spagat, ajc, 19 Sep. 2022
Another war in Iraq, fought on false pretenses, was its own early version of a Big Lie.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 11 Sep. 2021
But with Republicans going all-in on an ex-president who tried to overturn an election on false pretenses, and many Democrats increasingly fed-up with comprise-minded moderates, American politics is no boat party.
—Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2021
In 2019, Iran lured Ruhollah Zam from exile in Paris to Iraq on false pretenses.
—Robin Wrigh, The New Yorker, 19 July 2021
That rhetoric has stoked suspicions that Russian forces might pour over the border on false pretenses, just as Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and then denied having sent any forces into the country.
—Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 12 Apr. 2021
Johnny Yang was an employee at a marijuana dispensary in 2011 when, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Sheriff’s Department, Paez and Martinez entered the facility on false pretenses and wrongfully arrested Yang and another man on gun and drug charges.
—Waylon Cunningham, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2021
Moustafa Bayoumi, The New Republic, 7 Dec. 2022
The fact is that the supplement industry is under-regulated, which means that products are marketed and sold on false pretenses.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2022
Kidnapping is a high legal threshold, but migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard say they were taken there on false pretenses.
—Elliot Spagat, ajc, 19 Sep. 2022
Another war in Iraq, fought on false pretenses, was its own early version of a Big Lie.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 11 Sep. 2021
But with Republicans going all-in on an ex-president who tried to overturn an election on false pretenses, and many Democrats increasingly fed-up with comprise-minded moderates, American politics is no boat party.
—Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2021
In 2019, Iran lured Ruhollah Zam from exile in Paris to Iraq on false pretenses.
—Robin Wrigh, The New Yorker, 19 July 2021
That rhetoric has stoked suspicions that Russian forces might pour over the border on false pretenses, just as Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and then denied having sent any forces into the country.
—Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 12 Apr. 2021
Johnny Yang was an employee at a marijuana dispensary in 2011 when, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Sheriff’s Department, Paez and Martinez entered the facility on false pretenses and wrongfully arrested Yang and another man on gun and drug charges.
—Waylon Cunningham, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'on/under false pretenses.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Cite this Entry
“On/under false pretenses.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on%2Funder%20false%20pretenses. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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