Pretext Meaning
/ˈpɹiːtɛkst/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA false, contrived, or assumed purpose or reason; a pretense.
verbTo employ a pretext, which involves using a false or contrived purpose for soliciting the gain of something else.
Sentence Examples
He often uses the slightest thing as a pretext for a fight with anybody.
He made up a pretext for a fight with me.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used a fake headache as a ____ to leave the boring dinner party.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used the meeting as a ____ to gather information about the company's future plans.
Word Origin & History
From Latin praetextum (“an ornament, etc., wrought in front, a pretense”), neuter of praetextus, past participle of praetexere (“to weave before, fringe or border, allege”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[T]hey would ſay [...] that I had quarrell'd / My brother purpoſely, thereby to finde / An apt pretext, to baniſh them my houſe."
— 1598, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Euery Man in His Humour. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 21:
""After all," said the Chevalier, "these portraits—Madame de I'Hôpital's fortune-telling—the pleasure we take in a lover or a physician—may all be referred to the same cause,—we do so enjoy talking about ourselves; and yet we feel some sort of excuse necessary. It must be admitted, that we are ready in pretexts.""
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 69:
"On every kind of pretext she would run away from work [...]"
— 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:
"The smallest incidents were to serve as pretexts for demonstrations of force and for demands for indemnities and reparations which increased China's subjection."
— 1996, Jacques Gernet, translated by J. R. Foster and Charles Hartman, A History of Chinese Civilization, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 580:
"When that metaphor proves untenable, he switches to insisting that women are like beer but that’s mainly as a pretext to drink until he passes out in a father-son bonding haze."
— 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “The Simpsons (Classic): ‘New Kid on the Block’ [season 4, episode 8; originally aired 12 November 1992]”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2020:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used a fake headache as a ____ to leave the boring dinner party.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He used the meeting as a ____ to gather information about the company's future plans.