pretentious

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

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: pretentious in a Sentence

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.

—

pretentiously

adverb

—

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

Yet there is nothing pretentious or precious in her writing.

— stephanie hanes, The Christian Science Monitor, "'Life in the Garden' lovingly recalls the place of gardens in an author's life," 14 June 2018
Nothing fancy, nothing pretentious, nothing complicated.

— sam mellinger, kansascity, "Mellinger Minutes: Moose and the Royals' rare pace, Chiefs' draft, and one more Bud Lathrop story | The Kansas City Star," 24 Apr. 2018
The verdure of the place, verdure his word, pronounced in a comically pretentious accent that had always spurred laughter from his wife.

— david gilbert, The New Yorker, "Fungus," 4 June 2017
There’s no need to be too precious or pretentious with social media; the photos come and go so quickly.

— harper's bazaar staff, Harper's BAZAAR, "Leandra Medine Interviews Ines de la Fressange on the Blessing (and Curse) of Social Media," 22 May 2018
To deny your wife the right to tweed up would be to deny English majors, poetry majors and short-story writers the right to wear the traditional garb of the pretentious and deeply indebted.

— judge john hodgman, New York Times, "Judge John Hodgman on Who Gets to Wear Tweed," 10 May 2018
Cocktails are creative without being pretentious, the price point is reasonable, seating is ample, service is top-notch, and advanced reservations are available online.

— paul rubio, Condé Nast Traveler, "The 10 Best Rooftop Bars in the U.S.," 27 Apr. 2018
Everyone wants to be cool, no one wants to be pretentious.

— peggy noonan, WSJ, "If Adults Won’t Grow Up, Nobody Will," 5 Apr. 2018
Notice that as always the crime, the great shame, is the social one, to seem pretentious.

— john jeremiah sullivan, GQ, "In Memoriam: Lil Peep," 28 Jan. 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

pretentious Synonyms

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.