pretentious

adjective

pre·​ten·​tious pri-ˈten(t)-shəs 

: characterized by pretension: such as

a

: having or showing a noticeably excessive appreciation of one's own merits

a pretentious snob

… the pretentious fraud who assumes a love of culture that is alien to him.

—Richard Watts

b

: expressive of false, unjustified, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature

pretentious language

Pop history is littered with pretentious follies, with ambitious projects overreaching themselves.

—Dan Fox

Americans can never resist inventing pretentious names for new schools of thought, new religions or aspiring new disciplines …

—Margo Jefferson

pretentiously adverb

I don't mean to put it pretentiously, but your work involves touching the fabric of life itself.

—David Marchese

pretentiousness noun

Expertise with an open heart is an extraordinary thing. Combined with insularity and disdain, however, it gives rise to snobbery and pretentiousness …

—Eric Asimov

Synonyms of pretentious

• arrogant
• pompous
• ostentatious
• grandiose
• smug
• proud
• high-minded

Choose the Right Synonym for pretentious

showy, pretentious, ostentatious mean given to excessive outward display.

showy implies an imposing or striking appearance but usually suggests cheapness or poor taste.

the performers' showy costumes

pretentious implies an appearance of importance not justified by the thing's value or the person's standing.

a pretentious parade of hard words

ostentatious stresses vainglorious display or parade.

the ostentatious summer homes of the rich

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

Recent Examples on the Web

People insisting that the Prime titles aren't mere first-person shooters but first-person adventures was always a bit of a pretentious statement. —PC Magazine, 2 Dec. 2025

As luck would have it, while living like a character out of an Austen novel, Jane meets a standoffish man who initially comes off as rude and pretentious. —Andrea Wurzburger, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025

The use of her royal title is beyond pretentious. —Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 25 Nov. 2025

The adult who strives for a more bespoke level of gift-giving—or simply to find something with no connection to screens, mirrors, or fads—risks coming off as presumptuous and pretentious. —Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French prétentieux, from prétention "claim (as to excellence or superiority)" (going back to Middle French, borrowed from Medieval Latin praetentiōn-, praetentiō, variant of praetensiō "allegation, assertion") + -eux, going back to Latin -ōsus -ose entry 1 — more at pretension entry 1

First Known Use

1832, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pretentious

• conscientious
• unpretentious
• contentious
• sententious
• tendentious

Kids 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