How to Use pretense in a Sentence

pretense

noun

• We tried to keep up the pretense that everything was fine.
• Their indifference is merely pretense.
• All the veil is off now about the pretense of what this was about.
  — Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2023
• In prison and court, there was never any pretense about the nature of the crime.
  — Allison McCann, New York Times, 16 July 2022
• Yet the film barely musters the pretense that any of this matters.
  — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Apr. 2023
• Why does Putin feel the need to put out these weird pretenses?
  — Mary Ilyushina, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023
• From the time before the Olympic movement was stripped of pretense.
  — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Feb. 2022
• It’s been seven years since there’s been even a pretense of a peace process.
  — Hadar Susskind, Time, 16 June 2021
• The Rances described the Vineyard as the Hamptons without the pretense.
  — Helena Andrews-Dyer, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2022
• Enough with the pretense that Kenley Jansen is still the Dodgers’ closer.
  — Dylan Hernández Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 17 Dec. 2020
• But as racy as the video is, fans are under no pretense that the two are in the throes of gay puppy love.
  — Alex Hawgood, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2020
• Very personal, not a lot of ego, not a lot of pretense.
  — Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 31 Mar. 2023
• As the hours ticked by in the stuffy room where we were being held, many gave up even a pretense of masking.
  — Stephanie Nolen, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2021
• Above all, these pieces should be easy to wear without pretense.
  — Felicity Carter, Forbes, 16 May 2022
• This year, Newsom abandoned any State of the State pretense.
  — George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2023
• But for all the pretense of transparency, Facebook rarely walks the talk.
  — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 6 Oct. 2021
• Last year, Newsom abandoned any State of the State pretense.
  — George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2024
• This thing, the funeral of their father, would be a pretense.
  — Graham Swift, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022
• The team brings Beck in under the pretense of getting Sandra's friends to help talk to her hologram.
  — Sara Netzley, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2021
• Brade is a Christian and there are no pretenses about his faith.
  — Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 18 Apr. 2024
• Under the pretense of going to the bathroom, Dunne escaped out the window and took off in her car, which Sweeney jumped the hood of.
  — Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 23 Sep. 2024
• Due to the age of this classic, let there be no pretense the next few sentences contain any spoilers.
  — al, 3 Dec. 2020
• Others want to skip all the pretense and just chilllll.
  — Christian Gollayan, Men's Health, 27 June 2023
• Perhaps the next installment could do away with the pretense of these dingbats needing to save the world?
  — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 30 Sep. 2021
• With that in mind, the best chefs are dropping the pretense altogether.
  — Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 15 June 2024
• Tsai has so far sought to avoid any actions that could provide Xi a pretense for an attack.
  — Bloomberg.com, 20 Sep. 2020
• The words were matter-of-fact, delivered without a trace of pretense.
  — Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2021
• McCain and his wife had adopted a daughter from Bangladesh, and this act was used as a pretense to attack him.
  — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2024
• Unlike some of the other rifles in the field, the Mossberg makes no pretense of elegance.
  — John B. Snow, Outdoor Life, 6 Nov. 2020
• With all pretense of heterosexuality between these two in tatters, DC had embraced what to many fans was always true: Harley and Ivy were hopelessly, even criminally, in love.
  — Samantha Riedel, Them, 3 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 13 Nov 2024