pretentious

adjective

pre·​ten·​tious pri-ˈten(t)-shəs How to pronounce pretentious (audio)
1
: characterized by pretension: such as
a
: making usually unjustified or excessive claims (as of value or standing)
the pretentious fraud who assumes a love of culture that is alien to himRichard Watts
b
: expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature
pretentious language
pretentious houses
2
: making demands on one's skill, ability, or means : ambitious
the pretentious daring of the Green Mountain Boys in crossing the lakeAmer. Guide Series: Vt.
pretentiously adverb
pretentiousness noun
Choose the Right Synonym for pretentious

showy, pretentious, ostentatious mean given to excessive outward display.

showy implies an imposing or striking appearance but usually suggests cheapness or poor taste.

the performers' showy costumes

pretentious implies an appearance of importance not justified by the thing's value or the person's standing.

a pretentious parade of hard words

ostentatious stresses vainglorious display or parade.

the ostentatious summer homes of the rich

Examples of pretentious in a Sentence

It is hard to be pretentious or elevated in Yiddish, and easy to poke fun. Cynthia Ozick, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 1988
To anyone ignorant of the underlying physics, it might seem the most arrogant and pretentious necromancy. Carl Sagan, Contact, 1985
She seemed at that first meeting a little pretentious and a would-be intellectual—she was studying sociology in the States, a subject which thrives on banalities and abstract jargon … Graham Greene, Getting to Know the General, 1984
… and then a P.S. running into 20 pages both sides of the paper and coming back to the top of page one—Hegel, Nietzsche, Emerson, Gide, Beethoven, Suarez—all the boys trotted out in reams of pretentious blather. Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O'Brien), The Best of Myles, 1968
The houses in the neighborhood are large and pretentious. that pretentious couple always serves caviar at their parties, even though they themselves dislike it
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Once the very idea of holding a wine tasting at one’s home was considered a pretentious way of ruining a convivial party. John Mariani, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024 That said, both films sound like they were originally written in certain kind of pretentious but plausible French which then lost all verisimilitude when translated to English. Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Sep. 2024 The city is not as snooty and pretentious as San Francisco. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2024 From the outside, Ramadan notes, the Nautor Swan community can look pretentious, unapproachable. Tonya Russell, Robb Report, 23 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pretentious 

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French prétentieux, from prétention "claim (as to excellence or superiority)" (going back to Middle French, borrowed from Medieval Latin praetentiōn-, praetentiō, variant of praetensiō "allegation, assertion") + -eux, going back to Latin -ōsus -ose entry 1 — more at pretension entry 1

First Known Use

1832, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pretentious was in 1832

Dictionary Entries Near pretentious

Cite this Entry

“Pretentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretentious. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

pretentious

adjective
pre·​ten·​tious pri-ˈten-chəs How to pronounce pretentious (audio)
: appearing or trying to appear more important or more valuable than is the case
pretentiously adverb
pretentiousness noun

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