pretext

Roget category 617

5. Words relating to the voluntary powers
› 5.1. Volition in general
›› 5.1.2. Causes of volition

#617. [Ostensible motive, ground, or reason assigned.] Pretext

noun

pretext, pretense, pretension, plea^† — allegation, advocation — ostensible motive, ostensible ground, ostensible reason, phony reason — excuse etc. (vindication) 937 — subterfuge — color — gloss, guise, cover.
loop hole, starting hole — how to creep out of, salvo, come off — way of escape.
handle, peg to hang on, room locus standi [Lat.] — stalking-horse, cheval de bataille [Fr.], cue.
pretense etc. (untruth) 546 — put off, dust thrown in the eyes — blind — moonshine — mere pretext, shallow pretext — lame excuse, lame apology — tub to a whale — false plea, sour grapes — makeshift, shift, white lie — special pleading etc. (sophistry) 477 — soft sawder etc. (flattery) 933^†.

verb

pretend, plead, allege — shelter oneself under the plea of — excuse etc. (vindicate) 937 — lend a color to — furnish a handle etc. n. — make a pretext of, make a handle of — use as a plea etc. n. — take one's stand upon, make capital out of, pretend etc. (lie) 544.

adjective

ostensibly etc. (manifest) 525 — alleged, apologetic — pretended etc. 545.

adverb

ostensibly — under color — under the plea, under the pretense of, under the guise of.

The content on this page comes straight from Project Gutenberg Etext of Roget's Thesaurus No. Two, which consists of the acclaimed work by Peter Mark Roget augmented with more recent material. Some changes were made to the formatting for improved readability.

Bold numbers signify related Roget categories. A dagger symbol (†) indicates archaic words and expressions no longer in common use.

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