PRETEXT in a Sentence

Learn PRETEXT from example sentences; some of them are from classic books. These examples are selected from a corpus with 300,000 sentences, including classic works and current mainstream media. Some sentences also link to their contexts.

57 example sentences for PRETEXT, such as:

1. He used his research as a pretext for travelling to Hungary.
2. He used his sore finger as a pretext for not going to school.
3. finished her tea and evidently needed a pretext for being angry.
4. When she needed to cry, the deceased count would be the pretext.
5. The border dispute was used as a pretext for military intervention.

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 Meanings and Examples of PRETEXT
Definition Example Sentence Classic Sentence
pretext
 n.  excuse; something serving to conceal plans; fictitious reason
Classic Sentence: (50 in 4 pages)
1  Chichikov himself perceived that his device had been a clumsy one, and his pretext weak.
Dead Souls By Nikolai Gogol
Context  Highlight   In PART 1: CHAPTER IV
2  Before ten days had passed after his return to Maryino, on the pretext of studying the working of the Sunday schools, he galloped off to the town again, and from there to Nikolskoe.
Fathers and Children By Ivan Turgenev
Context  Highlight   In CHAPTER XXII
3  Yes, but between ourselves," said the princess, "that is a pretext.
War and Peace 1 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 1: CHAPTER X
4  Boris promised to fulfill her wish and was about to begin a conversation with her, when Anna Pavlovna called him away on the pretext that her aunt wished to hear him.
War and Peace 2 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 5: CHAPTER VI
5  The reasons on which the Duc de Bassano based his refusal to deliver them to him would never have led me to suppose that that could serve as a pretext for aggression.
War and Peace 3 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 9: CHAPTER III
6  If Bennigsen insisted on the position being defended and others still discussed it, the question was no longer important in itself but only as a pretext for disputes and intrigue.
War and Peace 4 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 11: CHAPTER III
7  They were all waiting for Bennigsen, who on the pretext of inspecting the position was finishing his savory dinner.
War and Peace 4 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 11: CHAPTER IV
8  What for people in their full vigor is an aim was for her evidently merely a pretext.
War and Peace 6 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 16: CHAPTER XII
9  Another pretext would be her snuff, which would seem too dry or too damp or not rubbed fine enough.
War and Peace 6 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 16: CHAPTER XII
10  When she needed to cry, the deceased count would be the pretext.
War and Peace 6 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 16: CHAPTER XII
11  When she wanted to be agitated, Nicholas and his health would be the pretext, and when she felt a need to speak spitefully, the pretext would be Countess Mary.
War and Peace 6 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 16: CHAPTER XII
12  finished her tea and evidently needed a pretext for being angry.
War and Peace 6 By Leo Tolstoy
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 16: CHAPTER XIII
13  Every cure furnished the pretext for a good meal: the Bishop did not interfere.
Les Misérables 1 By Victor Hugo
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 1: CHAPTER V—MONSEIGNEUR BIENVENU MADE HIS CASSOCKS LAST TOO...
14  It was her pleasure and her vanity to drag in these names on every pretext.
Les Misérables 2 By Victor Hugo
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 6: CHAPTER IX—A CENTURY UNDER A GUIMPE
15  The warden had mentioned the circumstance to the cure, and both had paid the colonel a visit, on some pretext or other.
Les Misérables 3 By Victor Hugo
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 3: CHAPTER II—ONE OF THE RED SPECTRES OF THAT EPOCH
Example Sentence:
1  He came to see me on/under the pretext of asking my advice when he really wanted to borrow money.
2  He used his sore finger as a pretext for not going to school.
3  The border dispute was used as a pretext for military intervention.
4  He can't recall the man's story but clearly it was a pretext for his accomplice to search the house.
5  He used his research as a pretext for travelling to Hungary.
6  He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.
7  On various pretexts they all moved off, and Alice was soon left alone.