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Synonyms

put on airs

Idioms  
  1. Assume a haughty manner, pretend to be better than one is, as in I'm sick of Claire and the way she puts on airs. Airs here means “a manner of superiority.” [c. 1700]


Example Sentences

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For all his crowing about his money and showing off, he really didn’t put on airs.

From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025

Japan’s colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945 introduced loanwords including gao, Japanese for “face,” adapted into Korean as “put on gao,” which means to put on airs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2025

Zaluzhny was already known as an ambitious and modern commander, but also an unpretentious man who liked to joke with his subordinates and didn't put on airs.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2023

Adams, who identifies as two-spirit — the term used by Indigenous communities for those who are nonbinary — did not put on airs.

From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2022

They didn’t trust people who put on airs.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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