pretentious
adjective
pre·ten·tious
pri-ˈten(t)-shəs 
1
: characterized by pretension: such as
a
: making usually unjustified or excessive claims (as of value or standing)
the pretentious fraud who assumes a love of culture that is alien to him—
Richard Watts
Richard Watts
b
: expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature
pretentious language
pretentious houses
2
: making demands on one's skill, ability, or means : ambitious
the pretentious daring of the Green Mountain Boys in crossing the lake—Amer. Guide Series: Vt.
Amer. Guide Series: Vt.
pretentiously
adverb
pretentiousness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of pretentious in a Sentence
It is hard to be pretentious or elevated in Yiddish, and easy to poke fun.
—Cynthia Ozick, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 1988
To anyone ignorant of the underlying physics, it might seem the most arrogant and pretentious necromancy.
—Carl Sagan, Contact, 1985
She seemed at that first meeting a little pretentious and a would-be intellectual—she was studying sociology in the States, a subject which thrives on banalities and abstract jargon …
—Graham Greene, Getting to Know the General, 1984
… and then a P.S. running into 20 pages both sides of the paper and coming back to the top of page one—Hegel, Nietzsche, Emerson, Gide, Beethoven, Suarez—all the boys trotted out in reams of pretentious blather.
—Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O'Brien), The Best of Myles, 1968
The houses in the neighborhood are large and pretentious.
that pretentious couple always serves caviar at their parties, even though they themselves dislike it
Cynthia Ozick, New Yorker, 28 Mar. 1988
To anyone ignorant of the underlying physics, it might seem the most arrogant and pretentious necromancy.
—Carl Sagan, Contact, 1985
She seemed at that first meeting a little pretentious and a would-be intellectual—she was studying sociology in the States, a subject which thrives on banalities and abstract jargon …
—Graham Greene, Getting to Know the General, 1984
… and then a P.S. running into 20 pages both sides of the paper and coming back to the top of page one—Hegel, Nietzsche, Emerson, Gide, Beethoven, Suarez—all the boys trotted out in reams of pretentious blather.
—Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O'Brien), The Best of Myles, 1968
The houses in the neighborhood are large and pretentious.
that pretentious couple always serves caviar at their parties, even though they themselves dislike it
Recent Examples on the Web
Yet Connell of all people, whose pretentious classmates use novels to seem superior, should know that the love of literature is hardly disinterested.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
Once the very idea of holding a wine tasting at one’s home was considered a pretentious way of ruining a convivial party.
—John Mariani, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
That said, both films sound like they were originally written in certain kind of pretentious but plausible French which then lost all verisimilitude when translated to English.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Sep. 2024
The city is not as snooty and pretentious as San Francisco.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretentious 
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Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 20 Sep. 2024
Once the very idea of holding a wine tasting at one’s home was considered a pretentious way of ruining a convivial party.
—John Mariani, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024
That said, both films sound like they were originally written in certain kind of pretentious but plausible French which then lost all verisimilitude when translated to English.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Sep. 2024
The city is not as snooty and pretentious as San Francisco.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pretentious
Articles Related to pretentious
Dictionary Entries Near pretentious
Cite this Entry
“Pretentious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretentious. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pretentious
adjective
pre·ten·tious
pri-ˈten-chəs
: appearing or trying to appear more important or more valuable than is the case
pretentiously
adverb
pretentiousness
noun
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