pretension

[pri-ten-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pretension ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the laying of a claim to something.

a claim or title to something.

Often pretensions. a claim made, especially indirectly or by implication, to some quality, merit, or the like: They laughed at my pretensions to superior judgment.

a claim to dignity, importance, or merit.

pretentiousness.

the act of pretending or alleging.

an allegation of doubtful veracity.

a pretext.

Origin of pretension

First recorded in 1590–1600, pretension is from the Medieval Latin word praetēnsiōn- (stem of praetēnsiō). See pretense, -ion

pretension

[pree-ten-shuh n]

verb (used with object)

(in prestressed-concrete construction) to apply tension to (reinforcing strands) before the concrete is poured.Compare posttension(def 1).

to make (a concrete member) with pretensioned reinforcement.

Origin of pretension

First recorded in 1935–40; pre- + tension

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pretension

conceit, hypocrisy, snobbery, pomposity, aspiration, pretense, ambition, vainglory, show, fake, phony, ostentation, disguise, pretentiousness, splash, affectation, front, put-on, charade, vanity

Examples from the Web for pretension

Contemporary Examples of pretension

Trekkies are defensive about the minutiae of their sacred source material, sometimes to the point of pretension.
Is J.J. Abrams Lost in Space?
Sujay Kumar
May 19, 2013
Humor, after all, is a social corrective against arrogance, ignorance and pretension.
The Comedian Political Takeover
John Avlon
September 25, 2010
But it's also because, from the APF's point of view, pretension is bad business.
Little Gimmicks Fund Big Exhibits
W.M. Akers
September 22, 2010
People loved Julia because she was very straightforward, and she didn't put on any airs, or have any pretension.
How Julia Loosened Me Up
Jacques Pepin
August 4, 2009
“So corrupt, evil, vile American liberal culture, such United States pretension,” as Pygmy reports.
The Prince of Gibberish
Allen Barra
June 6, 2009

Historical Examples of pretension

To folly, to pretension, to presumption, he showed but slight forbearance.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Where the pretension is higher, the test may justly be more severe.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862
Various
The Utopian ideas which I have expressed have in no way the pretension to be new.
The Sexual Question
August Forel
I speak generally, and not with any pretension to exactness.
The Republic
Plato
He has pretension; he wishes and attempts things beyond his force.
Essays, Second Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for pretension

pretension

noun

(often plural) a false or unsupportable claim, esp to merit, worth, or importance

a specious or unfounded allegation; pretext

the state or quality of being pretentious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pretension

mid-15c., "assertion, allegation; objection; intention; signification," from Medieval Latin pretensionem (nominative praetensio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin praetendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege" (see pretend (v.)). Meaning "unproven claim" is from c.1600. Sense of "ostentation" is from 1727.