pretentiousness

noun

Definition of pretentiousnessnext
1
as in arrogance
an exaggerated sense of one's importance that shows itself in the making of excessive or unjustified claims everyone took her ingrained pretentiousness into account when considering her statements

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ostentation
excessive or unnecessary display the sheer pretentiousness of the debutante's wedding

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in affectation
the quality or state of appearing or trying to appear more important or more valuable than is the case the utter pretentiousness of the movie is matched only by the incomprehensibility of its story

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretentiousness
  1. arrogance
  2. ostentation
  3. affectation
  4. superiority
  5. pomp
  6. pretension
  7. flamboyance
  8. pretense
Noun
  • She's paired up with Xeni (voiced by Richard Ayoade), a daydream director looking to move up into the big leagues of nighttime dreams but has a lot of artistic arrogance.
    Christian Holub, EW.com, 20 Nov. 2024
  • This can help alleviate concerns about potential arrogance or difficulty in adjusting to team dynamics. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
    Jack Kelly, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Definition of arrogance
Noun
  • As the country continues to grapple with high youth unemployment and troubles in its real estate market, some Chinese shoppers are turning away from ostentation amid the economic uncertainty.
    Ernestine Siu, CNBC, 16 July 2024
  • Though it may be overstated, ostentation is part of what makes the genre a culturally distinct global phenomenon.
    Julian Randall, Essence, 24 May 2024
Definition of ostentation
Noun
  • At 71, his only other visible rock-star affectations are a gold stud in one ear and a black beaded bracelet on his left wrist.
    Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 15 Oct. 2024
  • His eccentricities — once easily dismissed as the affectations of a lonely man — read maniacal.
    Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
Definition of affectation
Noun
  • The wholesale engulfing of the myth of white superiority is what makes that kind of violence.
    Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024
  • The film explores how the extremists combine violence, threatened or actual, with sophisticated social media campaigns to bring their pseudoscientific claims of racial superiority to the mainstream.
    Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Nov. 2024
Definition of superiority
Noun
  • The neo-Georgian mansions of Bel Air or the old-school pomp and glamor of Hollywood Regency?
    Zoë Dare Hall, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
  • Underneath its papal pomp and regal bearing, this thing is pulp through and through.
    Nate Jones, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2024
Definition of pomp
Noun
  • The upshot: a $190-million (some reports place the budget closer to $200 million) jukebox musical with seeming art-house pretensions whose odds of justifying its cost now seem remote.
    Chris Lee, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2024
  • The past month in Lebanon, like the past year in Gaza, has demonstrated that Israel’s leaders have no idealistic pretensions about establishing a new political order in Lebanon or in the Strip.
    Mohanad Hage Ali, Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2024
Definition of pretension
Noun
  • That return, coupled with Pepe’s crowd-pleasing natural flamboyance, put him on the radars of some of Europe’s top clubs.
    Jack Lang, The Athletic, 24 Nov. 2024
  • The flamboyance of 54 Chilean flamingos was surrounded by two human walls — made of approximately 200 zoo staff, volunteers and board members — to help guide them and keep them on the path toward their next habitat.
    Brandi D. Addison, Austin American-Statesman, 20 June 2024
Definition of flamboyance
Noun
  • Electronic surveillance itself doesn’t make The Conversation a political film; Caul’s paranoia comes from his apolitical pretense.
    Armond White, National Review, 16 Aug. 2024
  • But in his youth lies the reason for anonymity and pretense, Hoback claims.
    Joel Khalili, WIRED, 22 Oct. 2024
Definition of pretense
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near pretentiousness

pretentiously

pretentiousness

pretermission

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Cite this Entry

“Pretentiousness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretentiousness. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

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