Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A reason or excuse given to hide the real reason for something.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To use as a pretext, or cloak or covering; assume as a means of concealment.
- noun That which is assumed as a cloak or means of concealment; something under cover of which a true purpose is hidden; an ostensible reason, motive, or occasion; a pretense.
- noun Synonyms Pretension, etc. See
pretense .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Ostensible reason or motive assigned or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive; pretense; disguise.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
false ,contrived orassumed purpose ; apretense . - verb To employ a pretext, which involves using a
false orcontrived purpose for soliciting the gain of something else.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an artful or simulated semblance
- noun something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Valiavichareska said students never planned to disrupt finals, which she called a pretext for ousting the students.
SFGate: Top News Stories Nanette Asimov,Henry K. Lee 2009
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So the Inauguration, cause or pretext is as good a reason as any other to stop.
Let Go | ATTACKERMAN 2009
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The conflict over the caricatures, like almost any other of a religious nature or pretext, is childish and trivial and should be a work of fiction.
Totem And Task 2006
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They looked for that pretext from the first moment that they had the first excuse to.
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Till the passions of the mind in man and woman are separate and distinct, till the sex of vital animation, denominated soul, be ascertained, on what pretext is woman deprived of those amusements which man is permitted to enjoy?
Letter to the Women of England, on the Injustice of Mental Subordination 1799
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Till the passions of the mind in man and woman are separate and distinct, till the sex of vital animation, denominated soul, be ascertained, on what pretext is woman deprived of those amusements which man is permitted to enjoy?
Letter to the Women of England, on the Injustice of Mental Subordination 1799
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What types of reasons for discrimination constitute a "pretext" -- a cover-up -- when it comes to employer reasons for gender identity discrimination?
The Bilerico Project 2008
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What types of reasons for discrimination constitute a "pretext" -- a cover-up -- when it comes to employer reasons for gender identity discrimination?
The Bilerico Project 2008
-
What types of reasons for discrimination constitute a "pretext" -- a cover-up -- when it comes to employer reasons for gender identity discrimination?
The Bilerico Project 2008
-
What types of reasons for discrimination constitute a "pretext" -- a cover-up -- when it comes to employer reasons for gender identity discrimination?
The Bilerico Project 2008
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