Definition of pretentious
Adjectives
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
"a pretentious country house"
"a pretentious fraud"
"a pretentious scholarly edition"
- Synonyms:
-
tasteless
lacking aesthetic or social taste
-
arty
showily imitative of art or artists
-
artsy-craftsy, arty-crafty
pretentiously artistic; cloyingly charming
-
grandiloquent, overblown, pompous, pontifical, portentous
puffed up with vanity
-
grandiose, hifalutin, highfalutin, highfaluting, hoity-toity, la-di-da
affectedly genteel
-
high-flown, high-sounding, inflated
pretentious (especially with regard to language or ideals)
-
jumped-up
(British informal) upstart
-
nouveau-riche, parvenu, parvenue, upstart
characteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the social skills appropriate for this new position
-
sententious
abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing
-
sesquipedalian
given to the overuse of long words
- Antonyms:
-
unpretentious
lacking pretension or affectation
-
plain
not elaborate or elaborated; simple
-
tasteful
having or showing or conforming to good taste
-
honest
without pretensions
-
modest
free from pomp or affectation
-
unpompous
not pompous
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intended to attract notice and impress others
- Synonyms:
- ostentatious
-
flaunty
inclined to flaunt
-
flamboyant, showy, splashy
marked by ostentation but often tasteless
- Antonyms:
-
unostentatious
not ostentatious
- unpretending, unpretentious
-
quiet, restrained
not showy or obtrusive
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(of a display) tawdry or vulgar
- Synonyms:
- ostentatious
-
tasteless
lacking aesthetic or social taste
Vocabulary Lists for pretentious
George Orwell's "1984" Part 2 (comprehensive) »(2441 words)
Comprehensive vocabulary list for George Orwell's...
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George Orwell's "1984" Part 2 »(482 words)
Vocabulary study list for George Orwell's "1984" (Part...
- hierarchical
- niggle
- expropriate
- saccharine
- alterable
- abdicate
- abrogate
- accede
- accentuate
- accoutrement