pretext
nounmasculine/pɾɨ.ˈtɐjʃ.tu/medium
pre·tex·to
Definition
A reason or excuse given to justify an action, often false or exaggerated, that conceals the real intention.
He used the meeting as a pretext to avoid the party.
Under the pretext of helping, he just wanted to snoop around.
Common collocations
under the pretext offind a pretextfalse pretextserve as a pretext
Etymology
Do latim 'praetextus' (cobertura, desculpa).