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• n  something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason
• n  an artful or simulated semblance

• Let us see what pretext the government comes up with this time for the huge job losses.
• Since seizing power in a military coup, the dictator is postponing elections on one pretext or the other.
• The corrupt leader sought asylum in a foreign country on the pretext of persecution at home.

• stalking-horse
• guise
• pretense
• pretence

News & Articles

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• Expert: NSA phone-tracking 'insane'
  James Banford says the agency has overstepped the law under the pretext of defending the U.S.
  June 7, 2013 - Politico

Quotes

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• Ayman al-Zawahri in 940 News
  If Saudi Arabia controls Iraq or Sunni regions of Iraq, "the Iraqis would then suffer the same repression and humiliation which the people suffer under Saudi rule under the pretext of combating terrorism - ie, combatting jihad and preserving...
• President Bush in Forbes
  Defending US intelligence that has pinpointed Iran as a hostile arms supplier in Iraq, Bush said, "Does this mean you're trying to have a pretext for war? No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops."
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in CNN
  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the West of making "an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering ...... in order to establish a totally racist government in occupied Palestine."