Question 1 · Quick check
pretentious
CEFRC1
/pɹɪˈtɛn.ʃəs/
adjective
Türkçe translations
Translating…
In plain English
- 01
adjective
Trying to seem more important, intelligent, or impressive than is true.
- 02
adjective
Extra detailMarked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.
Examples
He's a pretentious boy who thinks he's better than everyone else.
Her nature is neither affected nor pretentious.
At a glance
Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale
- Senses
- 4
- Parts of speech
- 1
- Citations
- 3
- Synonyms
- 5
Also pronounced
- /pɹɪˈtɛn.t͡ʃəs/
Deep Dive
adjective
Extra meaningsMarked by pretense (not necessarily false pretense); intent upon success; ambitious.
Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.
More examples
In contextHer dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.
Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.
You are so pretentious!
Related
Quick test
Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.
Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.
Nearby
Origin
adjective
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.