pseud

[ sood ]

/ sud /

Informal.

Save This Word!

noun

a person of fatuously earnest intellectual, artistic, or social pretensions.

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of a pseud.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pseud

First recorded in 1950–55; by shortening of pseudointellectual or parallel compounds with pseudo-

Other definitions for pseud (2 of 3)

pseud-

variant of pseudo- before a vowel: pseudepigraphy.

Other definitions for pseud (3 of 3)

pseud.

abbreviation

pseudonym.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pseud in a sentence

There is a perpetual confusing of actual ideas with what are nothing but pseud-ideas.
Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I|Herbert Spencer
Mutatis mutandis this definition will apply to aggressive (pseud-episematic) resemblance.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6|Various
In 734 synaposematic colouring the warning is genuine, in pseud-aposematic it is a sham.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pseud (1 of 2)

pseud

/ (sjuːd) /

noun

informal a false, artificial, or pretentious person

adjective

another word for pseudo

British Dictionary definitions for pseud (2 of 2)

pseud.

abbreviation for

pseudonym

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