fancy-pants

adjective

Definition of fancy-pantsnext
as in pretentious

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fancy-pants To my surprise and delight, what came out of the blender was a fancy-pants chocolate mousse that could be served at any chic Brooklyn bistro. — Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 14 June 2026 Hotel-wise, the best place to be is either Kinloch Lodge, for belt-loosening cuisine and sing-worthy service, or Flodigarry Hotel, an off-compass outpost with a fancy-pants design bar and suites that wouldn’t look out of place in the Maldives. — Mike MacEacheran, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2025 Partridge was dressed in classic English fancy-pants style, while Rodrigo embraced the vintage preppiness inherent to gingham. — Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 2 July 2025 The surprise of Clover Hill is not that this sort of food is on offer in an outer borough—with its concentration of zillion-dollar brownstones and fancy-pants residents, Brooklyn Heights isn’t exactly salt of the earth. — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fancy-pants
  1. pretentious
  2. grandiose
  3. pompous
  4. inflated
  5. purple
  6. ornate
  7. bloated
  8. stilted
Adjective
  • Breaking down the song of the summer debate Music reviewers on social media are, more often than not, pretentious snobs who take themselves too seriously, but Mic The Snare is a welcome change of pace.
    — Moises Mendez II, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
  • By applying a jammy, near-Baduist flow to the sequencing, Zay can cogently dissect 10 ideas in one three-minute song without sounding crowded or, worse, pretentious.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 29 July 2026
Definition of pretentious
Adjective
  • The new album reunited the Jayhawks with storied producer Bob Ezrin, who guided some of the most delirious and grandiose rock records of the 1970s, from Alice Cooper, Kiss, and Lou Reed to Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
    — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Cox’s critics will no doubt find this narrative self-serving, perhaps even grandiose.
    — McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of grandiose
Adjective
  • Chelsea then imposed what turned out to be a false and ultimately quite pompous deadline.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Does little Arabella care about going to another stuffy awards dinner with her pompous dad?
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
Definition of pompous
Adjective
  • In current, inflated prices, the outturn cost approaches £48–49 billion.
    — Interesting Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2026
  • But on the other side of that coin, those windfalls will also set a higher bar for comparisons next year due to the inflated numbers this season.
    — Laya Neelakandan, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of inflated
Adjective
  • On the streets of New York, Zoey Deutch expertly pulled off a purple cardigan with red pants, while Dua Lipa rocked a head-to-toe Ferragamo ensemble at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, wearing a purple dress with red mules and an east-west bag.
    — Elise Fabre, Glamour, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Under the guise of paying homage to the bouquet of flowers his grandmother crocheted for his sister on her wedding day, Joseph added a matching purple bouquet which conveniently hides the super long crotch.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of purple
Adjective
  • Many of the 76 rooms and suites include private terraces overlooking Gran Via with the upper floor rooms facing the ornate gold dome of the Metropolis, one of Madrid’s most famous buildings.
    — Eddi Fiegel, Robb Report, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Maximalist Garden Design Similar to interior design, the Rococo aesthetic, with its ornate and romantic details, is taking over garden design.
    — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of ornate
Adjective
  • These companies went from being these cash-rich, asset-light, beautiful vehicles to becoming these bloated asset hogs.
    — Jack Holmes, Vanity Fair, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The original medical examiner is dead, so the replacement, Lisa Gavin, examined slides of Shakur’s bloated cadaver with the dispassion of a science teacher dissecting a frog.
    — Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of bloated
Adjective
  • Staffers are unfailingly warm and helpful, while never seeming stiff or stilted.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 June 2026
  • Tensions between Rian and Patrick flare when Rian drunkenly mentions a brief fling with Shiv, though the film’s clunky edit, which gives little room for the performances to breathe and play out organically within their contexts, makes these frictions feel stilted and juvenile.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 22 May 2026
Definition of stilted

Browse Nearby Words

fancy men
fancy-pants
fancy up
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Cite this Entry

“Fancy-pants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fancy-pants. Accessed 10 Sep. 2026.

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