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
  • 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
  • The Majestic espouses a traditional luxury hotel style without feeling stuffy or pretentious.
    — Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 7 July 2026
Definition of pretentious
Adjective
  • The city is grandiose enough that there are even ways for filmmakers to put their own spin on its more conventional sights and sounds.
    — Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Serra’s immersive event, a rapture of colors and shadows, pays fittingly grandiose tribute to an emissary of a legendary cinematic era.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of grandiose
Adjective
  • Does little Arabella care about going to another stuffy awards dinner with her pompous dad?
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
  • Among them a City boy wearing three Fit-Bit-type devices, two beautiful Middle Eastern sisters, an outrageously pompous elderly American (sorry; eavesdropping), and several Imelda Marcos lookalikes, tottering out of the treatment rooms with, somehow, their elaborate hairstyles still intact.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Definition of pompous
Adjective
  • But Puck’s inflated branding has, over time, come to look almost prophetic.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Instead of negotiating discounts off hospitals’ inflated list prices, Montana’s health plan started paying percentages of what Medicare paid for all services.
    — Bob Herman, STAT, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of inflated
Adjective
  • Be sure to plan at least one evening on-property to catch the sunset, when the mountains are painted in shades of pink and purple before giving way to a sky filled with twinkling stars.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Extremists can win blue states, but presidential elections and congressional control are decided in purple states, and America will not elect extremists and socialists.
    — Andrew Cuomo, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of purple
Adjective
  • Its ornate balustrade carvings glisten under a quiet, steady rain.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Warm and lush, earthy and bold, the scent has an ornate quality that’s more vase-of-roses-in-a-chinoiserie-sitting-room than dewy, garden-fresh bloom.
    — Jenny Berg, Vogue, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of ornate
Adjective
  • Jurors looked intently at the photos of Shakur's body, which was bloated and had multiple chest wounds.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • By the time a slipping receivable or a bloated inventory line shows up in that review, weeks of cash have already been lost.
    — Nick Chandi, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 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 20 Aug. 2026.

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