pretentious

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

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.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈtɛnʃəs/[1]

pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)

1. Intended to impress others; ostentatious.

   Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.

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

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

• poseur
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

• unpretentious

• pretentiously
• pretentiousness

• pretend
• pretender
• pretense
• pretension

• pretentious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pretentious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pretentious at OneLook Dictionary Search

• postuterine