How to Use under false pretenses in a Sentence

under false pretenses

idiom
  • Both soldiers had obtained leave passes under false pretenses to meet me.
    ProPublica, 15 Dec. 2022
  • Jail on June 4 to serve a 90-day jail sentence after having pled guilty last month to obtaining money under false pretenses, a felony.
    Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 18 Apr. 2024
  • He was charged with obtaining funds under false pretenses.
    cleveland, 12 Dec. 2022
  • The author of the letter accused Maria of borrowing money under false pretenses.
    Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Nov. 2022
  • But her Afghan family says she was taken under false pretenses.
    Sarah A. Topol Rozina Ali Chloé Cooper Jones David Marchese Kwame Anthony Appiah Yotam Ottolenghi Niela Orr Meg Bernhard Lisa Sanders, M.d. Victoria Chang John Hodgman, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2022
  • The notion that this war, this aggression by Russia, was being pursued under false pretenses.
    ABC News, 25 June 2023
  • Rusesabagina was lured back to Rwanda under false pretenses and jailed on terrorism charges before his release last week.
    CBS News, 27 Mar. 2023
  • In recent convictions: A South Carolina sheriff and deputies arrested a man under false pretenses, stole from the county then falsified records to cover it up.
    Scott Pham, CBS News, 20 May 2024
  • The complaint alleges a member of Santos' campaign team solicited money under false pretenses by pretending to be McCarthy's chief of staff.
    Rachel Looker, USA TODAY, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Some things that shocked Western observers, such as Prigozhin’s statement that the war in Ukraine was started under false pretenses, will probably easily vanish from consciousness.
    Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 26 June 2023
  • Hawkes borrowed his father’s phone under false pretenses to send the photos, the AP reported, and the 15-year-old girl began crying upon receiving the unsolicited images.
    Maham Javaid, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Federal law forbids entering the country under false pretenses, but giving birth in another country is not a crime.
    Frank Shyong, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2024
  • Anderson, under false pretenses, allegedly catfished her as a 20-year-old.
    Hatshepsu Coutain-Julien, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2024
  • And then there are operations like EDMC, which federal officials say pushed enrollees deeply into debt under false pretenses.
    Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
  • Levant’s guest appearance comes courtesy of a medical furlough that June arranged under false pretenses.
    Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Although no exact number of individual braces sold under false pretenses was stated in the complaint, the Bells received millions of dollars from the scheme, according to prosecutors.
    Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 July 2023
  • The caller alleged that a Vectrus subcontractor hired workers under false pretenses and withheld their pay, according to a Justice Department report.
    Anna Schecter, NBC News, 27 Oct. 2022
  • Momeni's attorneys blasted the paper for paying for the photos – which were allegedly taken under false pretenses by a photographer who was supposed to be taking pictures of the solitary confinement area.
    Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 4 Dec. 2023
  • Prosecutors say this is an example of defrauding under false pretenses.
    Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 3 Jan. 2024
  • An individual reported April 6 that personal information was used to apply for a loan under false pretenses, police said.
    Daniel I. Dorfman, Chicago Tribune, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Trump has accused the committee of seeking his taxes under false pretenses, saying the probe is just a politically motivated fishing expedition.
    Katherine Faulders, ABC News, 30 Dec. 2022
  • If individuals knowingly used electronic communications such as emails to raise funds under false pretenses, that could constitute wire fraud.
    Josh Dawsey and Devlin Barrett, Anchorage Daily News, 27 June 2023
  • The migrants themselves have also sued DeSantis and others, filing a federal class action lawsuit last week that alleges they were flown to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses and the incident inflicted emotional distress, violating federal law.
    Alison Durkee, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2022
  • Charging documents filed in August alleged Miele fraudulently solicited campaign funds under false pretenses for Santos' campaign.
    Robert Legare, CBS News, 14 Nov. 2023
  • The latest on the major investigations and lawsuits involving Donald Trump If individuals knowingly used electronic communications such as emails to raise funds under false pretenses, that could constitute wire fraud.
    Devlin Barrett, Washington Post, 26 June 2023
  • Collection Of Personal Information Job requisitions created under false pretenses may be geared toward collecting candidates' personal information.
    Siddharth Sharma, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word '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.

Last Updated: