pretentious

• prætentious (rare, pedantic or (esp. self-referentially) humorous)

From French prétentieux, from prétention, from Latin praetēnsus (“false or hypocritical profession”), past participle of praetendō.

Note that pretentious is spelled with a ‘t’, unlike related pretense, pretension. This is due to the French spelling: *-sious does not occur as an English suffix, though -sion and -tion both do.

• IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈtɛnʃəs/[1]

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pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)

1. Intended to impress others.

   Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.

2. Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

   Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.

   • 2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56:

     The station (1840) was originally Cheltenham but the more grandiose Cheltenham Spa since 1925, which feels a bit pretentious as the town has never allowed itself to assume such airs and graces.

• poseur
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

• unpretentious

• pretentiously
• pretentiousness

• pretend
• pretender
• pretense
• pretension

• pretentious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• pretentious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• pretentious at OneLook Dictionary Search

• postuterine