affectation
Put-on behavior pattern
Affectation is behavior or speech that is deliberately artificial, adopted to impress others rather than expressing genuine feeling or character.
Someone with an affectation of British pronunciation didn't grow up speaking that way.
The word carries disapproval—affectations are pretentious: His constant name-dropping was pure affectation.
The plural often refers to specific mannerisms: She dropped her aristocratic affectations after college.
Distinctive personal habit
- contrivanceClever invention or scheme
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- stiltednessUnnatural formality in expression
- unnaturalnessState of seeming contrived
forced · stilted · strained · labored · studied · self-conscious · overdone · exaggerated
Deliberate bodily arrangement
- posturingInsincere behavior for effect
- airsPretentious behavioral displays
- façadeFalse outward appearance
- charadeAbsurd or obvious pretense
masquerade · show · put-on · front · guise · veneer · pretense · false front
Vulgar flaunting of means
- flamboyanceShowy, confident style
- grandiosityExaggerated sense of importance
- pomposityExaggerated sense of importance
- pretentiousnessShowy self-importance
embellishment · exaggeration · theatricality · gaudiness · flashiness · overstatement · foppery · dandyism
Fraudulent person or thing
- feignedFalsely displayed or simulated
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- disingenuousFeigning ignorance or innocence
- hollowEmpty within
sham · bogus · inauthentic · ersatz · spurious · fabricated · insincere · false
Preference for privileged rule
- haughtinessDisdainful sense of superiority
- condescensionDemeaning air of superiority
- superciliousnessScornful sense of superiority
- arroganceExcessive self-importance
superiority · airs · hoity-toity · highfalutin · self-importance · snobbiness · nose-in-the-air · uppity
mannerism
Distinctive personal habit
- contrivanceClever invention or scheme
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- stiltednessUnnatural formality in expression
unnaturalness · forced · stilted · strained · labored · studied · self-conscious · overdone · exaggerated · wooden
pose
Deliberate bodily arrangement
- posturingInsincere behavior for effect
- airsPretentious behavioral displays
- façadeFalse outward appearance
charade · masquerade · show · put-on · front · guise · veneer · pretense · false front · feigning
ostentation
Vulgar flaunting of means
- flamboyanceShowy, confident style
- grandiosityExaggerated sense of importance
- pomposityExaggerated sense of importance
pretentiousness · embellishment · exaggeration · theatricality · gaudiness · flashiness · overstatement · foppery · dandyism · peacocking
phony
Fraudulent person or thing
- feignedFalsely displayed or simulated
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- disingenuousFeigning ignorance or innocence
hollow · sham · bogus · inauthentic · ersatz · spurious · fabricated · insincere · false · unauthentic
elitism
Preference for privileged rule
- haughtinessDisdainful sense of superiority
- condescensionDemeaning air of superiority
- superciliousnessScornful sense of superiority
arrogance · superiority · airs · hoity-toity · highfalutin · self-importance · snobbiness · nose-in-the-air · uppity · patronizing
- ego displaysarrogance, vanity, boasting, showboating, braggadocio
- insincerityinsincerity, phoniness, fakeness, falseness, pretense
- snobberysnob, snobbery, snooty, elitism, snoot
- Social Pretensepretense, facade, phoniness, insincerity, feigned interest
- theatricstheatrics, dramatics, melodrama, histrionics, theatricality
- vanityconceit, narcissism, ego, self-admiration, self-love
affectationgenuineness
Quality of being real
naturalness · sincerity · authenticity · artlessness · unaffectedness
affectationsimplicity
Lack of complexity
plainness · directness · unpretentiousness · matter-of-factness · unassumingness
affectationmodesty
Absence of vanity
humility · humbleness · self-effacement · restraint · understatement