pretentiousness
Airs without substance
Pretentiousness is the quality of claiming or projecting importance, sophistication, or artistic merit that isn't warranted.
Someone guilty of pretentiousness might use obscure vocabulary to seem intellectual, or affect refined tastes they don't genuinely hold.
The word carries strong negative judgment—it suggests not just ambition but dishonesty about one's actual depth or knowledge: The gallery reeked of pretentiousness.
Insincere behavior for effect
- airsPretentious behavioral displays
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
- fakeryDeliberate deception or pretense
showiness · theatricality · poseur · faux · pseudointellectualism · pomposity · facade · veneer
Pretentious social superiority
- snobbishCondescending toward perceived inferiors
- elitistOne favoring the privileged
- hoity-toityAffectedly superior in manner
- uppityArrogantly self-important
stuck-up · nose-in-the-air · disdain · contemptuous · sneer · bourgeois · aristocratic · exclusivity
Excessively high self-regard
- haughtyDisdainfully proud
- superciliousArrogantly contemptuous of others
- condescendingSuperior and dismissive manner
- patronizingTreating someone as inferior
self-important · pompous · bombastic · pontifical · vainglorious · highfalutin · smug · sanctimonious
posturing
Insincere behavior for effect
- airsPretentious behavioral displays
- artificeClever deceptive strategy
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
fakery · showiness · theatricality · poseur · faux · pseudointellectualism · pomposity · facade · veneer · self-aggrandizement
snobbery
Pretentious social superiority
- snobbishCondescending toward perceived inferiors
- elitistOne favoring the privileged
- hoity-toityAffectedly superior in manner
uppity · stuck-up · nose-in-the-air · disdain · contemptuous · sneer · bourgeois · aristocratic · exclusivity · cliquish
arrogant
Excessively high self-regard
- haughtyDisdainfully proud
- superciliousArrogantly contemptuous of others
- condescendingSuperior and dismissive manner
patronizing · self-important · pompous · bombastic · pontifical · vainglorious · highfalutin · smug · sanctimonious · hubristic
showy
Excessively eye-catching
- flashyShowy, often tastelessly so
- gaudyTastelessly ornate
- extravagantExceeding sensible bounds
flamboyant · overdone · garish · glitzy · splashy · ornate · grandiose · kitsch · opulent · lavish
- Affected Speechaffectation, airs, posh accent, overenunciation, stage voice
- ego displaysarrogance, vanity, boasting, showboating, braggadocio
- snobberysnob, snobbery, snooty, elitism, snoot
- pretentiousnesspompous, pomposity, affectation, poseur, snobbery
- bad traitsmeanness, rudeness, cruelty, dishonesty, hostility
- egoego, egoism, big ego, egotism, egocentrism
pretentiousnessgenuineness
Quality of being real
authenticity · sincerity · naturalness · unpretentiousness · artlessness
pretentiousnesshumility
Freedom from arrogance
modesty · unpretentiousness · humbleness · self-effacement · unassumingness
pretentiousnessunpretentiousness
Absence of showiness
simplicity · straightforwardness · plainness · directness · plainspokenness