1
as in arrogant
self-consciously trying to present an appearance of grandeur or importance
that pretentious couple always serves caviar at their parties, even though they themselves dislike it
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2
as in superior
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
a pretentious author whose books only appeal to equally pretentious readers
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Recent Examples of pretentious
Despite having the world’s most extensive collection of Napa Valley wine — the list is more than 170 pages long — there is nothing pretentious about Press.
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Katie Sweeney, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
At first, the girls are only in danger of being forced to listen to one man’s extremely pretentious opinions about religion, philosophy, culture, and yes, pop music, which is terrifying in itself.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 7 Nov. 2024
Co-founder and master distiller Andy Wahl grew up in wine country, in California’s Sonoma County, and felt that the fine wines harvested in the region were pretentious and inaccessible.
—John Kell, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Yet Connell of all people, whose pretentious classmates use novels to seem superior, should know that the love of literature is hardly disinterested.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretentious 
Katie Sweeney, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
At first, the girls are only in danger of being forced to listen to one man’s extremely pretentious opinions about religion, philosophy, culture, and yes, pop music, which is terrifying in itself.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 7 Nov. 2024
Co-founder and master distiller Andy Wahl grew up in wine country, in California’s Sonoma County, and felt that the fine wines harvested in the region were pretentious and inaccessible.
—John Kell, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Yet Connell of all people, whose pretentious classmates use novels to seem superior, should know that the love of literature is hardly disinterested.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretentious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretentious
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Julie Bowen and Christopher McDonald return as love interest Virginia Venit and arrogant rival Shooter McGavin, respectively, and the cast includes rookies like Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce and pro wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman.Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2025
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Those include genial second-year resident Dr. King (Taylor Dearden), arrogant intern Santos (Isa Briones), and doe-eyed med students Javadi (Shabana Azeez) and Whittaker (Gerran Howell).Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 9 Jan. 2025
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Stan would’ve played Joe Alwyn’s role, Harry Lee Van Buren, the pompous son of Guy Pearce’s moneyed industrialist who exploits Adrien Brody’s Jewish-Hungarian architect.Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 14 Jan. 2025
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What began earlier in Iannucci’s career as simply skewering pompous politicians has matured into an examination of what happens when leaders with feet of mud let their egos make decisions that will change the lives of millions.Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 8 Jan. 2025
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According to Butler and Desai, chick lit tends to celebrate an ostentatious culture of globe-trotting shopping sprees—mainly in Western centers of fashion and power, such as London and New York.H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
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The actor’s approach to method dressing was expansive: from a modest 1997 Christian Dior skirt-set patterned with delicate daisies, to ostentatious power-clashing pieces from Christopher John Rogers.Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2024
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Over-indexing on strategy may lead to grandiose ambitions that wilt without the tactical discipline, metrics, and incentives that drive performance.Mark Nevins, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
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And then there is Trump himself, who has grandiose ideas of his own, such as taking back control of the Panama Canal, levying tariffs on Mexico and Canada, purchasing Greenland, and getting countries in the region to accept U.S. deportees whose home countries have repeatedly refused to take them.Michael Wilner, Miami Herald, 14 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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But those awards joined wins for shows and performers who never had a shot with the more high-minded Emmys.Joe Reid, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2025
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Nehru’s patriotism was the high-minded vision of a Cambridge graduate who hoped to set India on a unique path—benignly secular and socialist, proudly nonaligned in the binary world of the Cold War.Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Ben Stiller, the director, executive producer, and a key creative force behind the show, is certainly too famous to show up at this pop-up, let alone stand outside of it among the people, snapping photos on his smartphone like a proud dad at his kid's dance recital.Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 15 Jan. 2025
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Green would likely be proud of the award-winning bottles being produced today.Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 15 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pretentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretentious. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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