Pretentious

Adjective

 * 1) Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.
 * Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.
 * 1) Ostentatious; intended to impress others.
 * Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.

Synonyms

 * poseur
 * See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Derived terms

 * pretentiously
 * pretentiousness

Related terms

 * pretend
 * pretender
 * pretense
 * pretension

Adverbs for Pretentious
foppishly; stiltedly; mincingly; simperingly; stagily; abominably; absurdly; ridiculously; ludicrously; laughably; disgustingly; pathetically; pompously; arrogantly; noisily; elaborately; cunningly; cleverly; theatrically; transparently; offensively; boastfully; harmlessly; unreasonably; loftily; unnecessarily; fantastically; artlessly; amusingly; prodigiously; colossally; tediously; stiffly.

Thesaurus
Gongoresque, Gongoristic, Johnsonian, Marinistic, affected, ambitious, arrogant, artificial, arty, aureate, bedizened, big, big-sounding, bombastic, chichi, classy, convoluted, declamatory, elaborate, elaborated, elevated, euphuistic, exaggerated, extravagant, fancy, feigned, flamboyant, flaming, flashy, flaunting, flossy, flowery, fulsome, garish, gassy, gaudy, grandiloquent, grandiose, grandisonant, haughty, high and mighty, high-flowing, high-flown, high-flying, high-hat, high-sounding, high-swelling, high-toned, highfalutin, highfaluting, histrionic, hoity-toity, hyperelegant, imposing, inflated, inkhorn, insincere, la-di-da, labyrinthine, lexiphanic, lofty, lurid, magniloquent, maniere, mannered, meretricious, mincing, orotund, ostentatious, overacted, overblown, overdone, overelaborate, overelegant, overinvolved, overnice, overrefined, overwrought, peacockish, peacocky, pedantic, pompous, precieuse, precieux, precious, put-on, rhetorical, sensational, sensationalistic, sententious, showy, snobbish, snotty, sonorous, splashy, stagy, stilted, studied, superficial, swank, swollen, tall, theatrical, tony, too-too, tortuous, tumid, turgid, unnatural, utopian, vainglorious, vaunting, visionary, windy

Alternative forms

 * prætentious

Etymology
From prétentieux: < prétention: <  praetensus:, past participle of praetendo:.

Note that pretentious is spelled with a ‘t’ (-tious), 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.

Translations

 * Arabic:
 * Chinese:
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * French:


 * German: ,
 * Romanian:
 * Spanish: pretencioso
 * Swedish: pretentiös


 * Chinese:


 * Finnish: näyttävä