Meanings
adjectivepretensive (comparative more pretensive, superlative most pretensive)
comparative more pretensive · superlative most pretensive
- USPretentious.First known use 19th c.
I used half a lifetime reading the critics, and while I found the content pretensive I found the style somehow pleasurable […].
1967, Charles Bukowski, letter, in On Writing, Canongate 2016, p. 95
Origin
- Latinpraetendere
- Englishpretensive
From the participle stem of Latin praetendere + -ive.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
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Cite this entry
APA
pretensive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretensive
MLA
“pretensive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretensive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pretensive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretensive.
Source: pretensive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.