How to Use pretext in a Sentence

pretext

noun

• She went back to her friend's house on the pretext that she had forgotten her purse.
• That's a lot of pretext, but that is where this movie starts.
  — Michael Heaton, cleveland.com, 13 Apr. 2018
• Ukraine and its allies call that a false pretext for a war of aggression.
  — Reuters, NBC News, 31 May 2022
• Such claims could be used as a pretext for escalating the war.
  — John Bacon, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2022
• But some in the party had dismissed that as a pretext to jam Biden through.
  — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 22 July 2024
• The play isn’t the thing but simply the pretext for disaster.
  — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2023
• On the other hand, the pandemic was little more than a pretext in the first place.
  — Samuel Goldman, The Week, 6 Apr. 2022
• By what pretext did federal agents secure a warrant to seize the records?
  — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 5 Feb. 2026
• Southern came to wonder if his proposal had been just a pretext.
  — Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
• The songs are celebrated for their badness, and they are used as pretexts for corny gags.
  — Christopher Arnott, courant.com, 11 June 2018
• Russia still bans protests on the pretext that mass gatherings are a health hazard.
  — Ann M. Simmons, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2023
• In some departments, such stops have been a pretext to search vehicles for drugs or weapons.
  — Editors, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2021
• But their threat served as a pretext for Sessions to intercede.
  — Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2019
• Western leaders dismissed the claims as a false pretext for the attack.
  — chicagotribune.com, 24 Mar. 2022
• Here, Franklin’s life is merely the pretext for a #MeToo-era tract.
  — Armond White, National Review, 11 Aug. 2021
• Police in those states are now unsure whether their age-old pretext for searching cars ─ the smell of pot ─ is still valid.
  — Jon Schuppe, NBC News, 18 Aug. 2019
• His gut tells him that all this talk about the cost of living is simply a pretext for owners to make more money.
  — New York Times, 20 Aug. 2022
• The governor calls that a pretext to shut down green energy.
  — Carolyn Gusoff, CBS News, 10 Jan. 2026
• Lewellen applied for a warrant to search Esteppe’s home on the false pretext the man sold drugs.
  — Tim Prudente, baltimoresun.com, 28 Aug. 2020
• But all of that is merely the pretext; the movie runs with its premise while scarcely giving it a second thought.
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026
• The police beat men like him on little pretext, and fists land in his face, on rugby days, for no reason at all.
  — New York Times, 5 Dec. 2021
• In essence, Pence was being asked to endorse a stack of forgeries and then use them as pretext for a coup.
  — Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2023
• Prosecutors said the teenagers were lured to the same park under the pretext of a gang meeting.
  — Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post, 2 July 2022
• This isn’t the first time the state has cut off internet access under the pretext of exams.
  — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 27 Sep. 2021
• This is not the case, and his toying with the idea exposes the transparency of this pretext.
  — Tom Campbell, Oc Register, 22 July 2025
• So the administration’s drug war rhetoric seems like a pretext.
  — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 26 Nov. 2025
• At the time, Fed chairman Jerome Powell had called that a pretext.
  — Scott Horsley, NPR, 13 Mar. 2026
• China will not use Venezuela as a pretext to invade Taiwan.
  — Dewardric L. McNeal, CNBC, 11 Jan. 2026
• And obviously, Russia doesn't need any kind of pretext to do so.
  — CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026
• And, obviously, Russia doesn't need any kind of pretext to do so.
  — CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026