under false pretenses
idiom
: by saying something that is not true, by pretending something, etc.
A reporter obtained documents from the company under false pretenses.
Examples of under false pretenses in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And your maternal grandmother was a Jew who escaped the Holocaust, changed her name, and fled to America under false pretenses.
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Lori Gottlieb, The Atlantic, 29 July 2024
Sherriff’s office warns of new scams Scammers are impersonating law enforcement officers to demand money from victims under false pretenses, according to a scam alert posted Friday by the sheriff’s office.
—Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 26 July 2024
Answer: Treason, murder, obstruction, theft, smuggling, piracy, mutiny, desertion, bigamy, dueling, accepting the land grant on the Ridge under false pretenses.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 July 2024
The fraud occurs when people use false identities to rent an apartment under false pretenses or for criminal purposes, owners and property managers say.
—Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for under false pretenses 
Lori Gottlieb, The Atlantic, 29 July 2024
Sherriff’s office warns of new scams Scammers are impersonating law enforcement officers to demand money from victims under false pretenses, according to a scam alert posted Friday by the sheriff’s office.
—Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 26 July 2024
Answer: Treason, murder, obstruction, theft, smuggling, piracy, mutiny, desertion, bigamy, dueling, accepting the land grant on the Ridge under false pretenses.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 July 2024
The fraud occurs when people use false identities to rent an apartment under false pretenses or for criminal purposes, owners and property managers say.
—Medora Lee, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for under false pretenses
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.
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“Under false pretenses.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/under%20false%20pretenses. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
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