pretext
Americannoun
-
something that is put forward to conceal a true purpose or object; an ostensible reason; excuse.
The leaders used the insults as a pretext to declare war.
-
the misleading appearance or behavior assumed with this intention.
His many lavish compliments were a pretext for subtle mockery.
- Synonyms:
- evasion, subterfuge
noun
-
a fictitious reason given in order to conceal the real one
-
a specious excuse; pretence
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pretext
1505–15; < Latin praetextum pretext, ornament, noun use of neuter past participle of praetexere to pretend, literally, to weave in front, hence, adorn. See pre-, texture
Explanation
Pretext is a false reason given for doing something. If you catch your mother going through your drawers, and she says she was just tidying up, cleaning was her pretext for snooping. Sometimes a government will try to take away its citizens' rights under the pretext of national security. Though pretext sounds like text that comes before other text, the text you see in it is actually more closely related to the word textile, meaning fabric. Its Latin root meant pretty much "to pull the wool over someone's eyes."
Vocabulary lists containing pretext
Animal Farm
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Grade 11, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We still see this in so many cases involving the Fourth Amendment, when police use the alleged smell of marijuana as a pretext for an illegal search.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
“I guess it can be seen as a pretext for the album. Just … be sweet,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
But some industry watchers say firms are using the technology as a pretext for other cost-cutting.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
In January, he released a startling video disclosing he was under investigation and labeling it a pretext to pressure the central bank to cut rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
When the Reichstag building burned down, which became the pretext for Hitler’s suppression of political dissent, Szilard was dismayed by the failure of his German friends to grasp the developing reality.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The Syrian foreign ministry denounced the attack as "an outrageous assault on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and called Israel's justification "flimsy pretexts and fabricated excuses".
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
He dismissed the possible threat of a criminal indictment over his testimony or the renovation project as "pretexts."
From Barron's ● Jan. 12, 2026
Her lawyer said in an email that the performance review “is further retaliation and an attempt to create further pretexts for the adverse employment actions the Board has already taken against her.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2024
Ayala says she believes he was looking for pretexts to evict her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2024
Clothes and money are sometimes procured under false pretexts.
From Gleanings by the Way by Clark, John A.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.