Tendentious
Etymology
From German “tendenziös,” from “Tendenz” (tendency, leaning), which traces to Latin “tendere,” to stretch or aim. The word carries that sense of a text aimed in a direction: a tendentious account leans on the scale while claiming to weigh fairly.
adjective · /ten-DEN-shuhs/
Presenting a view in a way calculated to promote a particular cause or bias.
What it names
Argument with an agenda — writing or speech that pretends to describe but is really steering you somewhere.
Example
The report’s tendentious framing quietly assumed the conclusion it claimed to be testing.
Related idea
A tendentious piece pushes an agenda under a neutral surface; a polemic is openly, avowedly for one side. Tendentiousness hides the slant; polemic flaunts it.