pretentious - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)
- 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.
pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)
- 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.
- 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, pages 703-704:
- 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.
- 2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56:
See also Thesaurus:arrogant
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
Catalan: ostentós
Irish: taibhseach, gáifeach, thar fóir
Italian: pretenzioso (it)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: pretensiøsSpanish: pretencioso (es)
Turkish: gösterişçi (tr), iddialı (tr)
“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.