pretentiously
In showy manner
Pretentiously describes doing something in a way that claims or implies greater importance, taste, or culture than is actually warranted.
Someone who speaks pretentiously affects an intellectual or sophisticated manner to impress others.
He pretentiously dropped French phrases into conversation despite never having visited France.
The word carries a note of criticism, suggesting the behavior is insincere or overblown.
Insincere behavior for effect
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- artificialMade, not natural
- fauxArtificial or imitation
- airsPretentious behavioral displays
flaunting · exaggerated · overdone · put-on · feigned · mannered · studied · stilted
Affectedly grand in manner
- bombasticExcessively inflated language
- grandiloquentPretentiously elevated in speech
- magniloquentUsing pompous, elevated rhetoric
- turgidSwollen or pompous
florid · flowery · highfalutin · verbose · ornate · purple prose · overwritten · bloated
Superior and dismissive manner
- patronizingTreating someone as inferior
- superciliousArrogantly contemptuous of others
- haughtyDisdainfully proud
- elitistOne favoring the privileged
arrogant · self-important · smug · disdainful · nose-in-the-air · hoity-toity · stuck-up · snooty
Excessively eye-catching
- flashyShowy, often tastelessly so
- gaudyTastelessly ornate
- garishTastelessly showy
- flamboyantStrikingly bold in style
extravagant · loud · splashy · glitzy · kitschy · overwrought · excessive · vulgar
posturing
Insincere behavior for effect
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- artificialMade, not natural
- fauxArtificial or imitation
airs · flaunting · exaggerated · overdone · put-on · feigned · mannered · studied · stilted · self-conscious
pompous
Affectedly grand in manner
- bombasticExcessively inflated language
- grandiloquentPretentiously elevated in speech
- magniloquentUsing pompous, elevated rhetoric
turgid · florid · flowery · highfalutin · verbose · ornate · purple prose · overwritten · bloated · wordy
condescending
Superior and dismissive manner
- patronizingTreating someone as inferior
- superciliousArrogantly contemptuous of others
- haughtyDisdainfully proud
elitist · arrogant · self-important · smug · disdainful · nose-in-the-air · hoity-toity · stuck-up · snooty · uppity
showy
Excessively eye-catching
flamboyant · extravagant · loud · splashy · glitzy · kitschy · overwrought · excessive · vulgar · tasteless
- arrogant adverbshaughtily, smugly, pompously, condescendingly, disdainfully
pretentiouslyhumbly
Without pride or arrogance
modestly · unpretentiously · unassumingly · self-effacingly · unostentatiously
pretentiouslygenuinely
In a real manner
naturally · authentically · unpretentiously · sincerely · unaffectedly
pretentiouslysimply
In plain terms
plainly · unpretentiously · unostentatiously · accessibly · down-to-earth
pretentious, unpretentious, pretentiousness, unpretentiously