Meaning & use
pretentious
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Trying to seem more important, clever or refined than you really are.
Grammar: Can be used before a noun or after a verb: a pretentious speech; the speech was pretentious.
Patterns
- pretentious about something
The restaurant had a pretentious menu full of unnecessary French.
I found his pretentious talk about art hard to bear.
She worried the title sounded pretentious.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Showy in a way that is too grand for what it is.
Grammar: Often describes things: a pretentious building.
The pretentious mansion was far too large for the street.
A pretentious logo can make a small shop seem silly.
The film was criticized as pretentious and empty.
Word forms
| comparative | more pretentious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most pretentious |
Common combinations
- sound pretentious
- I didn't want to sound pretentious in my essay.
- pretentious nonsense
- He dismissed the poem as pretentious nonsense.
- a pretentious air
- He spoke with a pretentious air.
- deeply pretentious
- The artist's statement was deeply pretentious.
- pretentious name
- They gave the cafe a pretentious name.
Synonyms and how they differ
- affected
- Affected describes behavior put on for show, such as an accent, while pretentious is wider and more critical.
- showy
- Showy focuses on flashy appearance, whereas pretentious also suggests claiming status or intelligence.
- snobbish
- Snobbish means looking down on others, but pretentious means pretending to be better.
- ostentatious
- Ostentatious is mostly about displaying wealth, while pretentious is also about culture or intellect.
Opposites
Word family
- pretension noun
- a claim to importance or quality that is not real
- pretentiously adverb
- in a showy or self-important way
- pretentiousness noun
- the quality of being pretentious
- unpretentious adjective
- simple and modest
- pretend verb
- to act as if something is true
Commonly confused: pretentious or pretending? pretentious or ambitious?
pretentious vs pretending
Pretending is acting as if something is true, often in play. Pretentious describes a person who tries too hard to seem impressive.
pretentious vs ambitious
Ambitious is positive and means wanting to achieve a lot, while pretentious is negative.
Practice
Someone who uses obscure words just to seem more educated might be called ___.
Choose one answer.
Pretentious fits someone trying to appear more clever than they are. Modest, genuine and shy describe the opposite or something unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pretentious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.