pretension
Claim without substance
Pretension is a claim to something—merit, importance, or status—that may or may not be justified.
A novel with literary pretensions aspires to artistic significance.
The word often implies the claim exceeds reality: His pretensions to expertise were laughable.
Without pretension describes something unpretentious or modest: a café without pretension.
The plural pretensions emphasizes ambitious self-regard: She has pretensions above her station.
Insincere, contrived behavior
- poseDeliberate bodily arrangement
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
- façadeFalse outward appearance
airs · falseness · phoniness · posturing · mannerism · theatricality · put-on · dissemblance
Ostentatious display quality
- extravaganceExcessive, wasteful spending
- flamboyanceShowy, confident style
- flashinessOstentatious showiness
- gaudinessTasteless, excessive ornamentation
glitz · grandiosity · opulence · lavishness · ornateness · spectacle · pageantry · flourish
Disdainful sense of superiority
- snobberyPretentious social superiority
- superciliousnessScornful sense of superiority
- conceitExaggerated self-admiration
- arroganceExcessive self-importance
hubris · condescension · disdain · imperiousness · self-importance · smugness · aloofness · contemptuousness
Strong desire for achievement
- assertionConfident statement of fact
- demandForceful request or requirement
- entitlementAssumed right to benefits
- presumptionBelief held without proof
assumption · expectation · ambition · pursuit · overreach · self-aggrandizement · goal · aim
Excessive admiration of oneself
- egotismInflated sense of self-importance
- self-lovePrioritizing your own worth
- self-admirationExcessive regard for oneself
- self-importanceExaggerated sense of significance
vainness · pride · self-regard · self-centeredness · self-absorption · ego · vainglory · self-satisfaction
affectedness
Insincere, contrived behavior
- poseDeliberate bodily arrangement
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
façade · airs · falseness · phoniness · posturing · mannerism · theatricality · put-on · dissemblance · contrivance
showiness
Ostentatious display quality
- extravaganceExcessive, wasteful spending
- flamboyanceShowy, confident style
- flashinessOstentatious showiness
gaudiness · glitz · grandiosity · opulence · lavishness · ornateness · spectacle · pageantry · flourish · sumptuousness
haughtiness
Disdainful sense of superiority
- snobberyPretentious social superiority
- superciliousnessScornful sense of superiority
- conceitExaggerated self-admiration
arrogance · hubris · condescension · disdain · imperiousness · self-importance · smugness · aloofness · contemptuousness · high-handedness
aspiration
Strong desire for achievement
- assertionConfident statement of fact
- demandForceful request or requirement
- entitlementAssumed right to benefits
presumption · assumption · expectation · ambition · pursuit · overreach · self-aggrandizement · goal · aim · striving
narcissism
Excessive admiration of oneself
- egotismInflated sense of self-importance
- self-lovePrioritizing your own worth
- self-admirationExcessive regard for oneself
self-importance · vainness · pride · self-regard · self-centeredness · self-absorption · ego · vainglory · self-satisfaction · complacency
- insincerityinsincerity, phoniness, fakeness, falseness, dissembling
- snobberysnob, snobbery, snooty, elitism, snoot
- vanityconceit, narcissism, ego, self-admiration, self-love
- bombastbombast, grandiloquence, magniloquence, pomposity, fustian
- narcissismnarcissist, narcissistic personality disorder, ego, vanity, self-love
- pretentiousnesspretentiousness, pompous, pomposity, affectation, poseur
pretensionhumility
Freedom from arrogance
modesty · unpretentiousness · humbleness · unassumingness · self-effacement
pretensionsincerity
Honest, unfeigned genuineness
genuineness · authenticity · honesty · naturalness · truthfulness
pretensiondisclaimer
Statement denying responsibility
waiver · renunciation · quitclaim · release · relinquishment