Vocabulary
Pretext
English and Urdu gloss, synonyms and antonyms, and example usage from our editorial sentence cache where available.
English meaning
A reason that you give to hide your real reason for doing something
Urdu meaning
بہانہ یا عذر
Example sentences (from Dawn)
Sentences are selected from stored editorial text where your search word appears. If none appear yet, run the admin sentence generator for fuller coverage.
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To silence demand, LG polls are scheduledandthenpostponed ontechnicalgroundsor under the familiar pretext of being `in the public interest`.
Dawn Editorials —
A case for smaller provinces
— 2026-04-24
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THE post-1979 Middle Eastern regional security architecture is on the brink of collapse.Israel, on the pretext of the Oct 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, has been targeting Iran and its allies in the region, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Dawn Editorials —
The emerging axis
— 2026-03-09
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As attested by the recent UN report, the world community has not accepted India`s pretext of terrorism to suspend the treaty (ironically, it is India, which is committing proxy terrorism in Pakistan).
Dawn Editorials —
Looking ahead
— 2026-01-04
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This points to a deeper anxiety that the ruling party is trampling constitutional guarantees and democratic norms to suppress political dissent under the pretext of controlling crime.
Dawn Editorials —
Unrestrained powers
— 2025-12-27
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The pretext of bad governance is equally spurious with conditions in the other provinces hardly enviable.It is all about power politics and pushing the PTI government in KP to the wall.
Dawn Editorials —
Politics of confrontation
— 2025-12-03
Synonyms
excuse, false excuse, ostensible reason
Antonyms
reality, back, truth, rear
More vocabulary to explore
About this vocabulary section.
These entries support close reading of Dawn editorials and opinion pieces: short definitions,
Urdu equivalents where we have them, word relations, and—when generated—real lines from the editorial archive
so you can see tone and usage.
Common questions
- Do I need to sign up to use this vocabulary page?
- No. Word pages are open to everyone. You can read meanings in English and Urdu, synonyms and antonyms, and example sentences without creating an account.
- Where do the example sentences come from?
- When available, example sentences are drawn from cached matches in our Dawn editorial corpus so you can see how a word is used in real newsroom-style prose.
- How is this different from a dictionary?
- This section is curated for students preparing for competitive exams and editorial reading. Entries are compact, often include Urdu glosses, and are paired with in-context lines from editorials when we have them.
