ENGLISH
REFERENCE

pretentious

adj.
C1 Advanced US //pɹiˈtɛnʃəs// UK //pɹɪtˈɛnʃəs// pre·ten·tious

adj. trying to seem more important, clever, or impressive than you really are. People often use this word to describe art, writing, or people that feel fake and showy.

adj. attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, or culture than is actually possessed


SIMPLE

The restaurant's menu is so pretentious that I cannot understand the dishes.

CONTEXTUAL

He wore sunglasses indoors and spoke with a fake accent, which made him seem incredibly pretentious to everyone at the party.

COMPLEX

Critics dismissed the director's latest film as a pretentious exercise in style over substance, noting its heavy reliance on obscure philosophical quotes that added nothing to the plot.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

From French prétentieux, from prétention, from Latin praetēnsus (“false or hypocritical profession”), past participle of praetendō. Note that pretentious is spelled with a ‘t’, unlike related pretense, pretension. This is due to the French spelling: *-sious does not occur as an English suffix, though -sion and -tion both do.

Usage

typically used pejoratively to describe artistic works, language, or individuals that appear artificially elevated

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