How to Use pretender in a Sentence

pretender

noun
  • That could be enough to ward off pretenders to the throne.
    Anousha Sakoui, Bloomberg.com, 5 May 2017
  • That's the record in this league against this guy who is a pretender.
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 5 Dec. 2020
  • The day that love changed the minds of pretenders while chasing the clouds away.
    Chris Morris, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2017
  • Which teams at the bottom of the Top 25 are pretenders?
    C.j. Doon, baltimoresun.com, 10 Oct. 2019
  • Of those four, the Colts are deemed more of a pretender than the others.
    Scott Horner, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Nov. 2020
  • Making the plays to win in the clutch separates the top teams from the pretenders.
    oregonlive, 27 Oct. 2019
  • Over the past decades, there have been other contenders and pretenders: the yen, the mark, the euro.
    Brook Larmer, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2017
  • The pretenders, the arrivistes, the people who go to be Seen.
    Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 26 Oct. 2017
  • The American was a brash, up and coming pretender to the crown.
    Don Maines, Houston Chronicle, 21 Feb. 2018
  • But many pretender have flamed out soon enough in recent years.
    Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, 29 Oct. 2021
  • Which Sweet 16 teams are contenders or just pretenders?
    USA TODAY, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Nearly 10% into the season, the Hawks look more like a pretender than a contender.
    Jimmy Greenfield, chicagotribune.com, 26 Oct. 2019
  • A 162-game schedule will unmask the anomalies, humble the overmatched and weed out the pretenders.
    John Shipley, Twin Cities, 7 Apr. 2017
  • Against this onslaught of pretenders, the Prius’s grip on the throne has become tenuous.
    Annie White, Car and Driver, 10 July 2017
  • On September 21, love was changing the minds of pretenders while chasing the clouds away.
    Aja Romano, Vox, 21 Sep. 2018
  • Let’s look at the six major Oscar categories and break down the contenders from the pretenders.
    Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2020
  • Notre Dame was exposed as a pretender, at least in relation to the Playoff.
    George Schroeder, USA TODAY, 1 Nov. 2019
  • The Red Sox have willingly turned themselves into a pretender to save a few bucks.
    Chad Finn, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Feb. 2020
  • Once again the Lakers are poised to be contenders and the pretenders are packing for Inglewood.
    latimes.com, 30 June 2017
  • The Mendoza line of contender/pretender is often seen as five games out of a playoff spot at the trade deadline.
    kansascity, 28 Mar. 2018
  • That trait is the biggest reason the Trailblazers went from a pretender to champion over the last three months.
    Eric Sondheimer, latimes.com, 25 Mar. 2018
  • But over the course of six months and multiple meetings, the pretenders are amply exposed.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 July 2019
  • Balans, the first British pretender, went on sale earlier this year.
    1843, 27 Sep. 2019
  • A true playoff contender, not a playoff pretender, wouldn’t do that.
    Billy Witz, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2016
  • Are the Arizona Cardinals a contender or a pretender in 2021?
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 22 Sep. 2021
  • The Wall Street Journal unmasked this great pretender on Thursday.
    Kenzie Bryant, Vanities, 1 June 2018
  • His rude personal style ruffles the feathers of many who see him as a pretender or a huckster.
    John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 30 May 2017
  • Catherine set in motion a devious plan to lure the pretender princess to Russia.
    National Geographic, 6 Aug. 2019
  • Fans are fiercely loyal and don’t take kindly to pretenders.
    George Diaz, OrlandoSentinel.com, 29 May 2017
  • No team has a more precarious spot on the pretender/contender fence line.
    Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 11 Dec. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretender.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: