characterized by assumption of dignity or importance, especially when exaggerated or undeserved: a pretentious, self-important waiter. making an exaggerated outward show; ostentatious.
Pretentious people may falsely believe that others see them as authentic and genuinely refined. Or it could be that they know what impression they make on others, but they would rather be seen as affected and uppity than as plain and ordinary, and they don't know how to pull off authentic and sophisticated.
: having or showing the unpleasant quality of people who want to be regarded as more impressive, successful, or important than they really are. He's a pretentious snob.
A middle-class person who buys the same expensive new car is pretentious. A pretentious person is pretending to have or be something or someone he or she is not. An ostentatious person is flaunting who he or she is and/or what they have.
/prɪˈtɛnʃɪs/ Use the adjective pretentious as a way to criticize people who try to act like they are more important or knowledgeable than they really are.
Being pretentious is a bad idea for several reasons: it alienates people, it suggests you're smarter than perhaps you actually are, and it invites unfriendly scrutiny.
The adjective unpretentious is perfect for describing someone you know who's modest and natural and never tries to impress other people. Pretentious comes from the Latin word meaning "pretend," prætensus, so when you're unpretentious, you see no reason to pretend.
: expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature. pretentious language.
POMPOUS. As you'd expect, this synonym for 'pretentious' is from the word pomp, meaning a splendid display (from the French, ultimately from Latin). If you're pompous, you're full of exaggerated self-importance.
They don't mean the same thing at all—they just have the same Latin root (praetendere). “Pretentious” essentially means “arrogant,” and “pretend” means “imagine” or falsely represent something as being true.
A pretentious person is pretending (same etymology) to be something or someone he or she is not. An ostentatious person, on the other hand, delights in flaunting who he or she is and/or what they have.
Pretentious people may falsely believe that others see them as authentic and genuinely refined. Or it could be that they know what impression they make on others, but they would rather be seen as affected and uppity than as plain and ordinary, and they don't know how to pull off authentic and sophisticated.
A pretentious person, by contrast, is all about themselves and trying to pretend to be something they're not. Even when they are something, such as a lawyer, handsome or rich, they make such a show of it that they end up looking worse than many people who are technically below them in social station.
Pretentious means 'attempt to impress' the opposite being humble meaning 'respectful'.
An inauthentic person is fake or insincere, and an inauthentic thing isn't what it's said to be.
without interest or concern; not caring; apathetic: his indifferent attitude toward the suffering of others. having no bias, prejudice, or preference; impartial; disinterested.
The adjective narcissistic describes those who are excessively self-absorbed, especially about their looks.
On this page you'll find 45 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to self-important, such as: arrogant, egotistical, pompous, bigheaded, big shot, and cocky.
The definition of pretentious (prɪˈtɛnʃəs) is ostentatious or showy in an undeserved way. Pretentious has a negative connotation, which means that if you describe someone as pretentious, they might take offense.
It's disingenuous when people pretend to know less about something than they really do. Disingenuous combines dis-, meaning "not," with ingenuous (from the Latin gen-, meaning "born") which was originally used to distinguish free-born Romans from slaves, and later came to mean honest or straightforward.