pretentious

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
13
Words With Friends
16
Letters
11
Pronunciation
/pɹɪˈtɛn.t͡ʃəs/

Definition of pretentious

2 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

adj

  1. Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.
    “Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.”
    “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.”
See all 2 definitions

adj

  1. Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.
    “Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.”
    “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.”
  2. Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.
    “Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.”
    “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.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

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.

Anagrams of pretentious

1 play · some not in Scrabble

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8-letter words

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7-letter words

126 words

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