1
as in arrogant
self-consciously trying to present an appearance of grandeur or importance
that pretentious couple always serves caviar at their parties, even though they themselves dislike it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in superior
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
a pretentious author whose books only appeal to equally pretentious readers
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretentious
For him, the only way to tell those stories without being pretentious is to wrap them in insanity.
—
Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025
Kerouac’s pretentious hitchhiker’s guide lacked the panache, humor, and focus of this one by Douglas Adams.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Kirk Lazarus is a prestigious, pretentious actor who decides to go full method — to put it mildly — in portraying a Black soldier.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Democratic strategist James Carville scolded his party for being pretentious and out of touch with large segments of the population, including young men.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 10 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretentious
Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2025
Kerouac’s pretentious hitchhiker’s guide lacked the panache, humor, and focus of this one by Douglas Adams.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
Kirk Lazarus is a prestigious, pretentious actor who decides to go full method — to put it mildly — in portraying a Black soldier.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Democratic strategist James Carville scolded his party for being pretentious and out of touch with large segments of the population, including young men.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 10 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretentious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretentious
Adjective
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Three or four decades ago, the newspaperman was appealingly raffish—at once a bum who drank too much and a knight-errant who charged unafraid at social injustice, succored the weak, and crossed lances with the powerful and arrogant.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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Elsewhere, the details lifted from the book suffer in translation – Branagh’s Victor is appropriately arrogant but not adequately tortured; De Niro’s Monster is sensitive and intuitive, but drowns in the film’s hurried, hollow second half.—
Rory Doherty,
Vulture,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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While The Morning Show presents the news business as glossy and glamorous (and often a little pompous), The Paper takes the opposite view with the documentary crew from The Office now focusing on a dying newspaper in Ohio.—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
11 Sep. 2025
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Guigal’s strategy isn’t built on pompous conservatism, but in long-term thinking.—
Paul Caputo,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Design-wise, the Vanguard glasses are a little too ostentatious for everyday wear, and they're not even offered with prescription lenses (unlike the HSTN glasses), but athletes will appreciate them for outdoor sports like beach volleyball, cycling, and running.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
21 Oct. 2025
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The natural sublime is big, ostentatious, unmistakable.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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One of the great pleasures of anime is that its unabashed, rollicky genre pieces are often suffused with grand, but not grandiose, sociopolitical commentary — a heady combination that many similar pictures can’t pull off.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
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The Great Park idea was hatched two-plus decades ago amid grandiose promises.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Any notion that this is a high-minded, good-government effort by the administration has to be put in the context that Trump has consistently sought to cast doubt on legitimate elections for at least a decade, dating back to his successful campaign for president in the 2016 election.—
Michael Smolens,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Oct. 2025
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The movie, which posits an impending nuclear strike on a major American city, is a flimsy yet high-minded piece of doomsday schlock, largely populated by ciphers in suits and drained of the pulp pleasures that schlock, at its best, can afford.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Like Meghan, Mookie is also a proud parent of two.—
Meredith Kile,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
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Creating a brand that uplifts underrepresented communities is my proudest accomplishment.—
Essence,
Essence,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretentious. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025.
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