Added 9 October 2026
pretentious
/pɹɪˈtɛn.ʃəs/ adjective
Latin root: praetēnsus Wiktionary
adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pretentious at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction.
a pretentious country house
-
Intended to attract notice and impress others.
an ostentatious sable coat
- (of a display) tawdry or vulgar.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)