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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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

From Salon • Nov. 23, 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

Sometimes you get intimidated by people because of their intellect, but she never put on airs.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 25, 2022

It let her feel like she was distancing herself from her mother, who Terryl always felt put on airs that everything was okay.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.