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.
  • There’s not even a pretense of a plan for what might come.
    — Suzanne Schneider, The New York Review of Books, 25 Mar. 2026
  • All the veil is off now about the pretense of what this was about.
    — Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2023
  • Kees is part speakeasy in vibe, but built to skirt any pretense.
    — Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 13 Feb. 2026
  • No stress, no pretense, just pure fun and freedom.
    — Sandy Pierre, Refinery29, 7 Nov. 2025
  • And even the pretense is not pretense.
    — Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 20 Mar. 2026
  • There is no pretense that things are normal or will be any time soon.
    — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 30 Mar. 2020
  • Above all, these pieces should be easy to wear without pretense.
    — Felicity Carter, Forbes, 16 May 2022
  • It’s been seven years since there’s been even a pretense of a peace process.
    — Hadar Susskind, Time, 16 June 2021
  • Why does Putin feel the need to put out these weird pretenses?
    — Mary Ilyushina, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023
  • Yet the film barely musters the pretense that any of this matters.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Apr. 2023
  • One level of pretense falls away and small talk becomes less small.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Marie Claire, 29 Sep. 2017
  • This year, Amazon just gave up on any pretense of a one-day event.
    — Mike Murphy, Quartz, 25 June 2019
  • Trump just abandoned the pretense.
    — Isaac Schorr, The Washington Examiner, 8 Aug. 2025
  • In prison and court, there was never any pretense about the nature of the crime.
    — Allison McCann, New York Times, 16 July 2022
  • There is no pretense to Montali.
    — Don Norcross, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2025
  • Harold is so clearly not a great man that his pretenses feel more like cries for help.
    — Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Maybe the pretense was comforting to him, too.
    — Cassandra Neyenesch, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026
  • 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
  • Brade is a Christian and there are no pretenses about his faith.
    — Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 18 Apr. 2024
  • But when a dog is involved, all of the Queen's pretenses fade away.
    — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, 1 Mar. 2019
  • From the time before the Olympic movement was stripped of pretense.
    — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Feb. 2022
  • Two athletes, stripped of all pretense and everything but a pair of gloves.
    — Jon Wertheim, SI.com, 18 Apr. 2018
  • 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
  • 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
  • People finally get to see me, and there's no pretense about that.
    — Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 18 Apr. 2026
  • But in his youth lies the reason for anonymity and pretense, Hoback claims.
    — Joel Khalili, WIRED, 22 Oct. 2024
  • In the end, no one was pretending, unless pretense paid the bills.
    — Lavender Au, The Dial, 7 Oct. 2025
  • This is what a society without pretense would look like.
    — Shadi Hamid, Time, 3 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretense.' 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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