Pretentious
Alternative forms
- prætentious rare, pedantic or humorous
Origin
From French prétentieux, from prétention, from Latin praetensus ("false or hypocritical profession"), past participle of praetendÅ.
Note that pretentious is spelled with a ‘t’ (-tious), 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.
Full definition of pretentious
Adjective
pretentious
- Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.
- Ostentatious; intended to impress others.Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.