pretext

(prē'tĕkst')
n.

1. An ostensible or professed purpose; an excuse.
2. An effort or strategy intended to conceal something.

tr.v., -text·ed, -text·ing, -texts.
To allege as an excuse.

[Latin praetextum, from neuter past participle of praetexere, to disguise : prae-, pre- + texere, to weave.]

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Pretending to be someone else in order to obtain information, typically over the phone. See social engineering.

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noun

1. A professed rather than a real reason: pretense, pretension. See honest/dishonest.
2. An explanation offered to justify an action or make it better understood: excuse, plea. See explain/baffle.
3. A deceptive outward appearance: cloak, color, coloring, cover, disguise, disguisement, façade, face, false colors, front, gloss, guise, mask, masquerade, pretense, semblance, show, veil, veneer, window-dressing. Slang put-on. See show/hide.

n

Definition: disguise; alleged reason
Antonyms: reality, truth

IN BRIEF: A fictitious reason or motive.

One of the main characters in the story used being ill as a pretext to get out of taking the test.

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For a list of words related to pretext, see:

• Falsehood, Pretense, and Exaggeration - pretext: assumed appearance or purpose used to conceal true intent

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - påskud, foregivende
v. tr. - komme med et påskud

idioms:

• under the pretext of    under påskud af

Nederlands (Dutch)
voorwendsel

Français (French)
n. - prétexte
v. tr. - prétexter

idioms:

• on the pretext of    sous le prétexte de
• under the pretext    sous le prétexte de

Deutsch (German)
n. - Vorwand, Ausrede
v. - vorgeben

idioms:

• on the pretext of    unter dem Vorwand, mit der Entschuldigung (etwas tun zu wollen)
• under the pretext    unter dem Vorwand

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πρόφαση, πρόσχημα, δικαιολογία

idioms:

• under the pretext of    με το πρόσχημα ότι/του

Italiano (Italian)
pretesto, scusa

idioms:

• under the pretext of    col pretesto di

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pretexto (m)

idioms:

• under the pretext of    sob o pretexto de

Русский (Russian)
предлог

idioms:

• under the pretext of    под предлогом

Español (Spanish)
n. - pretexto
v. tr. - pretextar

idioms:

• on the pretext of    con el pretexto de, bajo pretexto de
• under the pretext    con el pretexto de, bajo pretexto de

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förevändning, svepskäl, föregivande

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
借口, 托辞, 以...为借口, 推托

idioms:

• under the pretext of    以...为借口

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 藉口, 托辭
v. tr. - 以...為借口, 推托

idioms:

• under the pretext of    以...為藉口

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 구실, 핑계
v. tr. - ~을 구실로 하다

idioms:

• under the pretext of    ~을 구실로

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 口実, 弁解

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) عذر كاذب, ذريعه, حجه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תירוץ, אמתלה‬
v. tr. - ‮טען כתירוץ‬

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