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?
—
Mary Ilyushina,
Washington Post,
5 Oct. 2023
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From the time before the Olympic movement was stripped of pretense.
—
Ann Killion,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Feb. 2022
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It’s been seven years since there’s been even a pretense of a peace process.
—
Hadar Susskind,
Time,
16 June 2021
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The Rances described the Vineyard as the Hamptons without the pretense.
—
Helena Andrews-Dyer,
Washington Post,
20 Aug. 2022
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Enough with the pretense that Kenley Jansen is still the Dodgers’ closer.
—
Dylan Hernández Columnist,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Dec. 2020
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But as racy as the video is, fans are under no pretense that the two are in the throes of gay puppy love.
—
Alex Hawgood,
New York Times,
24 Oct. 2020
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Very personal, not a lot of ego, not a lot of pretense.
—
Todd Gilchrist,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2023
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As the hours ticked by in the stuffy room where we were being held, many gave up even a pretense of masking.
—
Stephanie Nolen,
New York Times,
13 Dec. 2021
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Above all, these pieces should be easy to wear without pretense.
—
Felicity Carter,
Forbes,
16 May 2022
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This year, Newsom abandoned any State of the State pretense.
—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Mar. 2023
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But for all the pretense of transparency, Facebook rarely walks the talk.
—
Ananya Bhattacharya,
Quartz,
6 Oct. 2021
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Last year, Newsom abandoned any State of the State pretense.
—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
26 June 2024
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This thing, the funeral of their father, would be a pretense.
—
Graham Swift,
The New Yorker,
14 Nov. 2022
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What is new is that Trump appears to have abandoned any pretense of being on the same side.
—
Katrin Bennhold,
BostonGlobe.com,
7 June 2020
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The team brings Beck in under the pretense of getting Sandra's friends to help talk to her hologram.
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Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
7 Dec. 2021
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Brade is a Christian and there are no pretenses about his faith.
—
Mike Preston,
Baltimore Sun,
18 Apr. 2024
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Under the pretense of going to the bathroom, Dunne escaped out the window and took off in her car, which Sweeney jumped the hood of.
—
Rebecca Aizin,
Peoplemag,
23 Sep. 2024
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Due to the age of this classic, let there be no pretense the next few sentences contain any spoilers.
—
al,
3 Dec. 2020
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Others want to skip all the pretense and just chilllll.
—
Christian Gollayan,
Men's Health,
27 June 2023
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Perhaps the next installment could do away with the pretense of these dingbats needing to save the world?
—
Joey Nolfi,
EW.com,
30 Sep. 2021
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With that in mind, the best chefs are dropping the pretense altogether.
—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
15 June 2024
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Tsai has so far sought to avoid any actions that could provide Xi a pretense for an attack.
—
Bloomberg.com,
20 Sep. 2020
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The words were matter-of-fact, delivered without a trace of pretense.
—
Los Angeles Times,
15 July 2021
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Basic human rights are being encroached upon under the pretense of prosperity and wealth.
—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
18 Sep. 2024
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With all pretense of heterosexuality between these two in tatters, DC had embraced what to many fans was always true: Harley and Ivy were hopelessly, even criminally, in love.
—
Samantha Riedel,
Them,
3 Oct. 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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