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I think some period drama can be quite alienating, but 'Downton' isn't. This is going to sound quite, um, pretentious, but someone said that it's like a soap written by a poet.
Michelle Dockery

Meaning of "pretentious" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

PRONUNCIATION OF PRETENTIOUS

pretentious  [prɪˈtɛnʃəs] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF PRETENTIOUS

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Pretentious is an adjective.
The adjective is the word that accompanies the noun to determine or qualify it.

WHAT DOES PRETENTIOUS MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of pretentious in the English dictionary

The definition of pretentious in the dictionary is making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly. Other definition of pretentious is having or creating a deceptive outer appearance of great worth; ostentatious.


WORDS THAT RHYME WITH PRETENTIOUS


abstentious
əbˈstɛnʃəs
conscientious
ˌkɒnʃɪˈɛnʃəs
conscious
ˈkɒnʃəs
contentious
kənˈtɛnʃəs
cost-conscious
ˈkɒstkɒnʃəs
dissentious
dɪˈsɛnʃəs
fashion-conscious
ˌfæʃ ənˈkɒnʃəs
health-conscious
ˈhɛlθkɒnʃəs
image-conscious
ˈɪmɪdʒkɒnʃəs
licentious
laɪˈsɛnʃəs
Prudentius
pruːˈdɛnʃəs
safety-conscious
ˈseɪftɪˌkɒnʃəs
semiconscious
ˌsɛmɪˈkɒnʃəs
sententious
sɛnˈtɛnʃəs
subconscious
sʌbˈkɒnʃəs
tendentious
tɛnˈdɛnʃəs
unconscientious
ˌʌnˌkɒnʃɪˈɛnʃəs
unconscious
ʌnˈkɒnʃəs
uncontentious
ˌʌnkənˈtɛnʃəs
unpretentious
ˌʌnprɪˈtɛnʃəs

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE PRETENTIOUS

pretence
pretenceless
pretend
pretendant
pretended
pretendedly
pretendent
pretender
pretendership
pretendingly
pretense
pretension
pretensionless
pretensive
pretentiously
pretentiousness
preterhuman
preterist
preterit
preterite

WORDS THAT END LIKE PRETENTIOUS

adventitious
ambitious
captious
cautious
delicious
expeditious
facetious
factitious
fictitious
flirtatious
infectious
nutritious
ostentatious
rambunctious
repetitious
scrumptious
superstitious
surreptitious
tortious
unambitious
vexatious

Synonyms and antonyms of pretentious in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «PRETENTIOUS»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «pretentious» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of pretentious

Translation of «pretentious» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF PRETENTIOUS

Find out the translation of pretentious to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of pretentious from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «pretentious» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

做作的
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

pretencioso
570 millions of speakers

English

pretentious
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

कपटी
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

الطنانة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

претенциозным
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

pretensioso
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

দাম্ভিক
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

prétentieux
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Megah
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

anmaßend
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

うぬぼれた
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

허풍스러운
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Pretentious
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

tự phụ
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

பகட்டான
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

नीचपणा दाखवणारी
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

iddialı
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

pretenzioso
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

pretensjonalny
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

претензійною
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

pretențios
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ξιπασμένος
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

pretensieus
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

pretentiös
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

pretensiøs
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of pretentious

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «PRETENTIOUS»

The term «pretentious» is very widely used and occupies the 18.993 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
92
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «pretentious» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of pretentious
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «pretentious».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «PRETENTIOUS» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «pretentious» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «pretentious» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about pretentious

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «PRETENTIOUS»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word pretentious.
1
Afrojack
People need realness, reality. People can sense when someone is being pretentious or fake. It's because you feel it; you see it in someone's body language.
2
Jimmy Breslin
Don't call me a journalist; I hate the word. It's pretentious!
3
Scott Caan
I don't want to sound pretentious, but you could hire a bunch of monkeys to be on a TV show, and if it's successful, then everything's perfect and everybody's happy.
4
Anne Carson
I am kind of a curmudgeonly person, so I don't gravitate to groups or traditions, which is probably just pretentious of me.
5
Eleanor Catton
It seems pretentious to assume that we are not creatures of action. I think often it takes a situation of extreme absurdity, extreme action, to push us to the limits of what our character is, and to change us as people.
6
Christian Cooke
It sounds stupid, but there's nothing like walking down the street and seeing a building that's older than 100 years old. I think London - not to sound pretentious - like New York, it's a big melting pot for all things and it's just got this energy that you can't find anywhere else.
7
Michelle Dockery
I think some period drama can be quite alienating, but 'Downton' isn't. This is going to sound quite, um, pretentious, but someone said that it's like a soap written by a poet.
8
Jean Dujardin
It's quite pretentious, really, isn't it? The notion the audience is going to be interested in you for an hour and a half. Think too much about that and anxiety takes over.
9
David Eddings
Call it my little gesture toward social conscience, but I like to think I'm teaching a certain number of people to read. Now that sounds pretentious!
10
Sebastian Faulks
I don't do interviews at home any more because my wife doesn't like having her taste in interiors put through the mill. And I get annoyed when journalists make snide remarks about the annoyingly pretentious shops in the neighbourhood - because I hate them just as much.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «PRETENTIOUS»

Discover the use of pretentious in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to pretentious and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Pretentious Young Ladies
This is an electronic edition of the complete book complemented by author biography. This book features the table of contents linked to every part and chapter.
Moliere, 2010
2
101 pretentious hors d'oeuvres
Provides recipes for appetizers which feature seafood, meat, poultry, vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, or cheese as the main ingredient
Gerald H. Crown, 1983
3
100 Pretentious Proverbs
If you want to sound as though you’ve swallowed a dictionary, here are 100 simple proverbs and their verbose translations for you to memorize and recite at dinner parties and other social gatherings.
Michael Powell, 2003
4
Australians and the Arts
Exactly half the sample population believe that the arts attract people who are elitist or pretentious (51%), with only about one in ten expressing this view strongly. Just under half are prepared to agree that the arts are about class in Australia ...
Paul Constantoura, 2001
5
Wine and Conversation
It should be possible to interpret a pretentious wine as one that looked, tasted, smelled, and felt like an aged Chateau Lafite but was really a jug wine from the San Joaquin Valley selling for $1.89 a gallon—truly a wine buyer's fantasy.
Adrienne Lehrer Professor of Linguistics University of Arizona, 2009
6
The Pretentious Persuaders: A Brief History & Science of ...
Second Edition - Revamped - Updated - Uncut This book is sure to become one of the most influential of modern times.
G. A Mohr, 2014
7
100 Pretentious Nursery Rhymes
If you want to sound as though you've ingested a thesaurus, here are 100 nursery rhymes and their long-winded translations to memorize and declaim at children's parties. You'll be the most popular person there!
Michael Powell, 2002
8
The Buddhist Coffee House
notes seem like prayers, some are more like journals, but a few of the visitors write pretentious poems. Meanwhile, in Scotland, a bearded bald headed guy sang with a heavy Scottish accent and William decided to write a very pretentious  ...
Luther Hughes, Waccamaw Press, 2010
9
Aesthetics and the Theory of Criticism: Selected Essays of ...
11. 'Pretentious'. as. an. Aesthetic. Predicate. I can do little more in this paper than, first, to say what I think the importance of the subject is and, second, to point out what I think are the main difficulties of the subject. The chief general problem  ...
Arnold Isenberg, William Callaghan, 1988
10
Confessions of a Pretentious Poet
Confessions Of A Pretentious Poet is filled with poems meant to make you laugh, cry, think and most importantly: break out the old notebook and confess your own pretentious poetry!
Marquis L. Woolford, 2013

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «PRETENTIOUS»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term pretentious is used in the context of the following news items.
1
NFL's Deflategate prevention plan is overdone, 'pretentious'
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the star of the NFL's Deflategate scandal, passes the ball during OTAs on May 29. Photo: AP ... «New York Post, Jul 15»
2
'Church in Ruins'
... captors, but Vince Vaughn's pretentious don't-call-him-a-gangster gangster didn't leave me too bothered or baffled with his pretentious patter, ... «Entertainment Weekly, Jul 15»
3
Friends, family celebrate life of late country star Norwood
“There wasn't a pretentious bone in his body. He loved everybody.” Norwood's cause of death remains under investigation. Hereford police ... «LubbockOnline.com, Jul 15»
4
BBC: the Secret Files, BBC4 - TV review: The BBC opens its vaults …
"This, unless you understand exactly what they're trying to do, is crap, and pretentious crap at that." That's the dismissive verdict BBC assessors ... «The Independent, Jul 15»
5
BBC drama Life In Squares review by CHRISTOPHER STEVENS
Television more pretentious than Life In Squares (BBC2) cannot be imagined. If you'd watched wearing a beret and neckerchief, while smoking ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»
6
Each farmers' market has its own vibe
It was very pretentious, crowded, and uninviting. Thankfully, the Saturday morning market held downtown in Toledo is nothing like that one. «Toledo Blade, Jul 15»
7
'The End of the Tour' review: One of the year's top films, with Jason …
Wallace, a gentle giant who wears a bandana over long hair, is aware that in a magazine profile he could come off pretentious and awkward. «New York Daily News, Jul 15»
8
No. 4: Libertine Liquor Bar
... they gradually gave way to beanies and flannels as management fretted about the joint feeling too pretentious. Now that the Libertine is open ... «Indianapolis Monthly, Jul 15»
9
Partch: Delusion of the Fury, Lincoln Center Festival, New York
Still, one recalcitrant iconoclast — OK, this one — had trouble distinguishing creative profundity from pretentious claptrap. Sorry. «Financial Times, Jul 15»
10
Irish hotel gets heat for US$42 bottled water
... with critics lambasting the new service as “disgusting”, in light of water scarcity issues around the world, and insufferably “pretentious”. «The Malaysian Insider, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Pretentious [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/pretentious>. Apr 2024 ».
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