pretentious

Meaning

1. Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.
2. Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

Synonyms

ostentatious

affected

pompous

showy

conceited

haughty

arrogant

grandiose

show off

vain

exaggerated

mannered

feigning

bombastic

gaudy

pretending

precious

highfalutin

boastful

prim

presumptuous

highfaluting

proud

ornate

genteel

expansive

flamboyant

portentous

put on airs

farfetched

fanciful

false

consequential

exigent

cocky

insolent

imposing

exacting

cocksure

bold

egotistical

dissimulating

clever

high

hypocritical

important

dashing

impudent

grandiloquent

dandified

Translations

prétentieux

pretencioso

pretenzioso

ostentatief

eingebildet

pretensioso

opzichtig

prätentiös

presumido

affecté

gösterişçi

aanmatigend

εξεζητημένος

pretenciós

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɹɪ.ˈ tɛn.t͡ʃəs/

Etymology

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.