as in pretentious
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Recent Examples of fancy-pants
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
With crust that's beautifully singed and wondrously puffed, the not-so-basic numbers are polished with fancy-pants ingredients—from Calabrian chile, fennel and sausage to a cacio e pepe riff made with velvety cream sauce, formaggi al pepe and pecorino.
—Brooke Viggiano, Chron, 12 Mar. 2023
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
With crust that's beautifully singed and wondrously puffed, the not-so-basic numbers are polished with fancy-pants ingredients—from Calabrian chile, fennel and sausage to a cacio e pepe riff made with velvety cream sauce, formaggi al pepe and pecorino.
—Brooke Viggiano, Chron, 12 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fancy-pants
Adjective
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Foodie sounds a little pretentious.—
Evan Grant,
Dallas Morning News,
20 Jan. 2026
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The result is a unique brand of luxury that is warm, welcoming, and intentional—not pretentious.—
Nina Ruggiero,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Ryan Weeks writes on how the experiment with digital dollars is falling short of grandiose expectations.—
Ryan Weeks,
Bloomberg,
27 Jan. 2026
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Privately, Marcos considered his legacy in grandiose terms.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Jeffrey Tambor Known for playing the pompous, self-important mayor of Whoville, Jeffery Tambor also has an esteemed career across television and film.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Dec. 2025
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Among the latter is ravenous beaver Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster, hilarious), who turns out to be a key ally, and pompous new mayor Brian Winddancer (Patrick Warburton), a stallion who used to be an actor.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Oversized fits—from bomber jackets and cow-print fleece coordinates to wide-leg jeans—were balanced with boots with inflated toes and straps.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
29 Jan. 2026
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The ball itself was usually an inflated animal bladder, like a cow bladder, explains Louis Moore, a professor at Michigan State University, who teaches sports history.—
Jaclyn Diaz,
NPR,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Black Rice Often called Forbidden rice, black rice is a whole grain similar to brown rice, with a deep purple-black bran.—
Anne Wolf,
Martha Stewart,
27 Jan. 2026
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Hudson—who was photographed sitting next to Diane Kruger and Michelle Pfeiffer—appeared to be dreaming of spring weather, thanks to a light lavender purple top trimmed with sequins and rhinestones that was a diamanté dream.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The vaulted lobby, dressed up in jewel tones, ornate wall panels, and mixed materials, sets the tone for the rest of your visit.—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Jan. 2026
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Sophie’s wonderment at the ornate environment catches Benedict’s attention.—
Olivia Singh,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But the White House says the old National Security Council structures were too bloated and are ultimately unsuited for how this administration does business.—
Franco Ordoñez,
NPR,
26 Jan. 2026
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Eleven should have been at the forefront of Season 5 rather than sidelined by characters like Holly, though the problem was less about Holly and more about the bloated cast in general.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The stilted, cascading synthesizers of Oneohtrix Point Never are plaintive and seductive.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
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The entry-level category lagoon studio suite starts at a generous 788 square-feet of indoor space, coupled with a 1,016-square-foot private patio with a heated plunge pool; for a bit more space, including a generous separate living room, book a stilted room that rests over the water.—
Jacqui Gifford,
Travel + Leisure,
3 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fancy-pants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fancy-pants. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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