false pretenses

See synonyms for: false pretensesfalse pretense on Thesaurus.com

plural noun
  1. a deliberate misrepresentation of facts, as to obtain title to money or property.

  2. the use of such misrepresentation.

Origin of false pretenses

1
First recorded in 1750–60

Words Nearby false pretenses

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use false pretenses in a sentence

  • By such false pretenses and underhand proceedings at Florence, the people of Rome, as well as their heroic friends, were deceived.

    Rule of the Monk | Giuseppe Garibaldi
  • He rather thought there should be some way of getting money back from people who obtained it under false pretenses.

    The Hidden Places | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • Your false pretenses of ‘genuineness’ are therefore insults to the history, the traditions, and the entire record of the South.

    The Modern Ku Klux Klan | Henry Peck Fry
  • She was homesick and longing for love and tenderness, but not for one moment would she receive them under false pretenses.

    A Daughter of the Union | Lucy Foster Madison
  • That appointment was obtained under false pretenses and I can prove it.

    Cy Whittaker's Place | Joseph C. Lincoln