pretentious
characterized by assumption of dignity or importance, especially when exaggerated or undeserved: a pretentious, self-important waiter.
making an exaggerated outward show; ostentatious.
full of pretense or pretension; having no factual basis; false.
Origin of pretentious
1synonym study For pretentious
Other words for pretentious
Other words from pretentious
- pre·ten·tious·ly, adverb
- pre·ten·tious·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with pretentious
- portentous, pretentious
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use pretentious in a sentence
By then, pretentiously revolutionary political names had descended to the world of crack.
They have no saloon on deck, though a couple of small apartments, abaft the paddle-boxes, are pretentiously called "pavilions."
Down the Rhine | Oliver OpticChris had her hands full trying to live pretentiously on a rather small income.
A Little Girl of Long Ago | Amanda Millie DouglasThis basin had originally been pretentiously ornamented, but time and vegetation had greatly improved these efforts of bad taste.
The Cross of Berny | Emile de GirardinA more cultured woman would only have misunderstood me more pretentiously.
Dreamers of the Ghetto | I. Zangwill
We spend part of our busy little lives in somewhat pretentiously undertaking to report its dicta.
The Sources Of Religious Insight | Josiah Royce
British Dictionary definitions for pretentious
/ (prɪˈtɛnʃəs) /
making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly
having or creating a deceptive outer appearance of great worth; ostentatious
Derived forms of pretentious
- pretentiously, adverb
- pretentiousness, noun
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
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