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pretentious
Use
Pretentious
in a sentence
pre·ten·tious
/
prɪˈtɛn
ʃəs
/
Show Spelled
[
pri-
ten
-sh
uh
s
]
Show IPA
adjective
1.
characterized by assumption of dignity or importance, especially when exaggerated or undeserved:
a pretentious, self-important waiter.
2.
making an exaggerated outward show; ostentatious.
3.
full of
pretense
or
pretension
.
Origin:
1835–45;
earlier
pretensious.
See
pretense
,
-ious
Related forms
pre·ten·tious·ly,
adverb
pre·ten·tious·ness,
noun
Can be confused:
portentous
,
pretentious.
Synonyms
2.
pompous. See
bombastic
.
3.
showy. See
grandiose
.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Pretentious
is an SAT word you need to know.
So is
superfluous
. Does it mean:
So is
delusion
. Does it mean:
So is
hedonist
. Does it mean:
being more than is sufficient or required; excessive
to promote the growth or development of or encourage; to care for or cherish
a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification
a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact:
a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification
mere chance or accident
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Collins
World English Dictionary
pretentious
(prɪˈtɛnʃəs)
—
adj
1.
making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly
2.
having or creating a deceptive outer appearance of great worth; ostentatious
pre'tentiously
—
adv
pre'tentiousness
—
n
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
pretentious
1845, from Fr. prétentieux (17c.), from prétention "pretension," from M.L. pretentionem (nom. pretentio) "pretension," from L.L. prætensus "pretend" (see
pretense
).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
In my opinion, evolutionary theories such as this are
pretentious
and offensive.
In lesser hands it would surely end up disjointed and
pretentious
.
But consider the
pretentious
piece of tripe in which he is, let us say with
kindness, currently trapped.
The phone's name might be a tad
pretentious
but we'll be damned if it doesn't
live up to it.
It seems to them that he is only using more
pretentious
words to describe what they already know.
But for external communication, including the affiliation but not the rank strikes me as
pretentious
.
Shopworn
pretentious
phraseology can be distracting if not actually repelling to a reader.
It's a little
pretentious
, but both pop and jazz jocks should find a good program spot for it.
Eclipses are the favored
pretentious
film metaphor of the moment.
Bureaucrats are generally lazy,
pretentious
, and vindictive individuals whom are comprised of every race and gender.
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Matching Quote
"Quotation ... A writer expresses himself in words that have been used before because they give his meaning better than he can give it himself, or because they are beautiful or witty, or because he expects them to touch a cord of association in his reader, or because he wishes to show that he is learned and well read. Quotations due to the last motive are invariably ill-advised; the discerning reader detects it and is contemptuous; the undiscerning is perhaps impressed, but even then is at the same time repelled,
pretentious
quotations being the surest road to tedium."
-Henry W. Fowler
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Synonyms
grandiloquent
ostentatious
magniloquent
vainglorious
extravagant
exaggerated
conspicuous
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highfalutin
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