pretentious

adjective pre·ten·tious \ pri-ˈten(t)-shəs \

Definition of pretentious

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 him
—Richard 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 lake
—Amer. Guide Series: Vt.

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pretentiously

adverb

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pretentiousness

noun

See pretentious defined for English-language learners

See pretentious defined for kids

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 Gopaleen (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 of pretentious from the Web

Singing sweet tunes about wanting to be a young adult again is a bit pretentious.

— cleveland.com, "Taylor Swift's 20 greatest songs," 25 Aug. 2017
Nevertheless, the restaurant isn’t fussy or pretentious, nor did the wait staff appear to consider these menu selections precious heirlooms.

— Fortune, "Airport Dining Rooms So Fancy Not Even Business Class Can Get a Table," 16 Aug. 2017
Nevertheless, the restaurant isn’t fussy or pretentious, nor did the wait staff appear to consider these menu selections precious heirlooms.

— justin bachman / bloomberg, Time, "These Airport Dining Rooms Are So Fancy Not Even Business Class Can Get a Table," 16 Aug. 2017
Although all this art talk might seem pretentious, it is leavened by Simons’s pleasantly earnest demeanor and unaffected Flemish accent.

— bob colacello, Vanities, "How Raf Simons Captured the Calvin Klein Empire," 31 July 2017
Bragging rights: Her blog McMansion Hell has gone viral for its humorous commentary on pretentious architecture.

— brittany britto, baltimoresun.com, "Building a following: Peabody student is making a name for herself in the world of architecture by taking McMansions to task," 28 July 2017
But as good as the food is, the most remarkable thing about FLX Table is its vibe: on trend without being trendy, interesting without being overdone, ambitious without being pretentious.

— paul brady, CNT, "The Fresh Allure of New York's Finger Lakes," 19 July 2017
People have called me an ogre and a pretentious feminist.

— sarah wu, Teen Vogue, "Model Scarlett Costello on Why She Loves Her Unibrow," 6 July 2017
In the public imagination, America is the brash young houseguest: violent, forthright with opinion, unimpressed by pretentious tradition, and permanently unable to shake off an unfortunate background in trade.

— charles c. w. cooke, National Review, "My American Dream," 4 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pretentious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of pretentious

French prétentieux, from prétention pretension, from Medieval Latin pretention-, pretentio, from Latin praetendere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1832

See Words from the same year

pretentious Synonyms

Synonyms

affected, grandiose, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-minded, la-di-da (also la-de-da or lah-de-dah or lah-dee-dah or lah-di-dah), ostentatious, pompous, snippy

Antonyms

modest, unpretentious

Near Antonyms

demure, down-to-earth, homely, humble, lowly, meek, retiring, unassertive, unassuming; bashful, diffident, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, passive, quiet, reserved, shy, timid

Synonym Discussion of pretentious

showy, pretentious, ostentatious mean given to excessive outward display. showy implies an imposing or striking appearance but usually suggests cheapness or poor taste.