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
• But the French and British air forces began to run out of bombs, and that pretense fell away.
  — Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2019
• 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
• This year, Amazon just gave up on any pretense of a one-day event.
  — Mike Murphy, Quartz, 25 June 2019
• Very personal, not a lot of ego, not a lot of pretense.
  — Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 31 Mar. 2023
• But when a dog is involved, all of the Queen's pretenses fade away.
  — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, 1 Mar. 2019
• No pretense that a ballpark open for two decades is too old.
  — Bill Shaikin, latimes.com, 26 May 2018
• But in his youth lies the reason for anonymity and pretense, Hoback claims.
  — Joel Khalili, WIRED, 22 Oct. 2024
• 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
• No pretense here, just good hearty food—a perfect cap on a weekend chock full of the same.
  — David Jefferys, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Aug. 2019
• This year, Newsom abandoned any State of the State pretense.
  — George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2023
• Club has already tossed all pretense of PR this year. 2.
  — John Shea, SFChronicle.com, 29 Apr. 2020
• There is no pretense that things are normal or will be any time soon.
  — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 30 Mar. 2020
• But for all the pretense of transparency, Facebook rarely walks the talk.
  — Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 6 Oct. 2021
• Those are just pretenses to the real draw of this restaurant, which lies in the way the staff can make the whole counter laugh along with them.
  — Soleil Ho, SFChronicle.com, 20 June 2019
• 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
• Trump has abandoned even the pretense that words have value.
  — Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 10 May 2018
• But that would require the president-elect to recognize that Putin is a liar who is far weaker than his pretenses.
  — Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 11 Jan. 2025
• Glenn Litton wounded both boys after meeting with the school’s principal under the pretense of enrolling his grandson.
  — Mathew Miranda, Sacramento Bee, 15 Jan. 2025

Last Updated: 23 Feb 2025