pretentious

English

Alternative forms

• prætentious (rare, pedantic or (esp. self-referentially) humorous)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈtɛn.t͡ʃəs/
• enPR: prĭ-tĕnˈ-chəs

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)

1. Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.

   Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.

   • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, pages 703-704:

     I recall the height of comfort attained by the green-cushioned "first" with starched white antimacassars and a pretentious grey floor mat on which it seemed a sacrilege to stand, as it was embellished with the North Western conception of Britannia, complete with trident.

2. Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

   Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.

   • 2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56:

     The station (1840) was originally Cheltenham but the more grandiose Cheltenham Spa since 1925, which feels a bit pretentious as the town has never allowed itself to assume such airs and graces.

Synonyms

• poseur
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Antonyms

• unpretentious
• humble
• modest

Derived terms

• pretentiously
• pretentiousness

Related terms

• false pretense
• pretend
• pretender
• pretense
• pretension
• pretentiosity

 

Translations

marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction

• Arabic: مَغْرُور (maḡrūr)
• Belarusian: прэтэнцыёзны (pretencyjózny)
• Bulgarian: претенциозен (bg) (pretenciozen)
• Catalan: pretensiós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 做作 (zh) (zuòzuo)

• Czech: domýšlivý (cs)
• Danish: prætentiøs, selvhøjtidelig
• Dutch: pretentieus (nl), zelfingenomen (nl)
• Finnish: mahtaileva (fi)
• French: prétentieux (fr)
• Galician: pretensioso m
• German: protzig (de), prätentiös (de)
• Hungarian: elbizakodott (hu)
• Irish: móiréiseach, sotalach, postúil, gaisciúil
• Italian: pretenzioso (it)
• Macedonian: претенцио́зен (pretenciózen)
• Maori: rangiwhata
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pretensiøs

  Nynorsk: pretensiøs

• Polish: pretensjonalny (pl) m
• Portuguese: armante, pretensioso (pt)
• Romanian: pretențios (ro)
• Russian: претенцио́зный (ru) (pretencióznyj)
• Spanish: pretencioso (es), pretensioso m, comparón (Dominican Republic)
• Swedish: pretentiös (sv), anspråksfull (sv)
• Turkish: iddialı (tr), kasıntılı (tr), havalı (tr) (iinformal), göz boyama, kendini beğenmiş
• Vietnamese: tự phụ (vi)

intended to impress others

• Bulgarian: превзет (bg) (prevzet)
• Catalan: ostentós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 炫耀的 (zh) (xuànyào de)

• Finnish: näyttävä (fi)
• Hungarian: nagyképű (hu)
• Irish: taibhseach, gáifeach, thar fóir
• Italian: pretenzioso (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pretensiøs

• Russian: показно́й (ru) (pokaznój)
• Spanish: pretencioso (es)
• Turkish: gösterişçi (tr), iddialı (tr)

References

• “pretentious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “pretentious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “pretentious”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• postuterine