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

The owner of the Lakers for much of West's career was a Canadian named Jack Kent Cooke, who emerged from central casting as the pretentious, gaseous millionaire, complete with ascot in the pocket.

— jack mccallum, SI.com, "The Divorce Between Jerry West and the Warriors," 12 Oct. 2017
All the Swedes with a sense of humor came to America and so what the Nobel judges recognize is bleak, cramped, emotionally stunted, enigmatic, pretentious.

— author: garrison keillor, Alaska Dispatch News, "To satisfy the Swedes, a Nobel lit winner must work the abyss," 12 Oct. 2017
Indeed, the term can come across as pretentious and elitist, but being a foodie could pave the way to better nutrition.

— carrie dennett, The Seattle Times, "The nutritional upside of being a foodie," 31 Aug. 2017
Too big, too pretentious and then there is the near windowless media bunker.

— john cherwa, latimes.com, "Racing! New horse racing newsletter is off and running, featuring entries and results," 29 Sep. 2017
Östlund mocks everything from pretentious museum exhibitions to complacent liberalism, and serves up the funniest argument ever about condoms.

— john powers, Vogue, "These Are the Movies You Need to Know About This Fall," 1 Sep. 2017
There are so many amazing restaurants in San Miguel that have excellent food, without being pretentious.

— laura neilson, Vogue, "The “First Lady of Tequila” Provides an Insider’s Guide to San Miguel de Allende," 9 Oct. 2017
Chef Alan Sternberg pushes Midwestern ingredients to just-right limits without being pretentious or fussy.

— liz biro, Indianapolis Star, "10 best Downtown Indianapolis restaurants for weekenders," 5 Oct. 2017
With Colbert at the helm, the Emmy telecast was far less pretentious than usual.

— hal boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Emmys: Colbert ridicules Trump, upstages awards," 17 Sep. 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

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.