pretentious
adjective
pre·ten·tious
pri-ˈten(t)-shəs 
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
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.
Amer. Guide Series: Vt.
pretentiously
adverb
pretentiousness
noun
Synonyms
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
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
Despite the associations with French food always being pretentious and decadent, Pavé is proof that sometimes the art of French food lies in its simplicity.
—Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 17 July 2024
Blauvelt grew up in Sunnyside and wanted to offer the neighborhood an easy and playful, rather than pretentious, spot for breakfast and lunch.
—Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 15 July 2024
He’s played by Jim Rash (Community), who can make anything funny, even an Oscar acceptance speech (watch it on YouTube), and proceeds to get the film’s only real laughs even though his pretentious character is a walking cliché.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 July 2024
Defying the common pretentious perception of lawyers, Jenaye fuels all her ventures with humility.
—Ethan Stone, USA TODAY, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretentious 
Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 17 July 2024
Blauvelt grew up in Sunnyside and wanted to offer the neighborhood an easy and playful, rather than pretentious, spot for breakfast and lunch.
—Lily O'Neill, The Denver Post, 15 July 2024
He’s played by Jim Rash (Community), who can make anything funny, even an Oscar acceptance speech (watch it on YouTube), and proceeds to get the film’s only real laughs even though his pretentious character is a walking cliché.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 July 2024
Defying the common pretentious perception of lawyers, Jenaye fuels all her ventures with humility.
—Ethan Stone, USA TODAY, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretentious
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretentious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Dictionary Entries Near pretentious
Cite this Entry
“Pretentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretentious. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pretentious
adjective
pre·ten·tious
pri-ˈten-chəs
: appearing or trying to appear more important or more valuable than is the case
pretentiously
adverb
pretentiousness
noun
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