pretentiously

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UK/pɹɪˈtɛnʃəsliː/UK/pɹəˈtɛnʃəsliː/US/pɹiːˈtɛnʃəsliː/

adverb

In a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

Opposite
unpretentiously
RareScrabble 18
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Meanings

adverbpretentiously (comparative more pretentiously, superlative most pretentiously)

comparative more pretentiously · superlative most pretentiously

  1. In a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.
  2. Ostentatiously; in a manner intended to impress others.
    1 more example

    Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence. She devoured with more avidity than she had her food those pretentiously phrased chronicles of the snobocracy—[…]—distilling therefrom an acid envy that robbed her napoleon of all its flavor.

    1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), page 373, column 2
  3. In a manner demanding of skill or daring.

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbin a pretentious manner

Opposite
unpretentiously

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From pretentious + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan pretensiosament
  • pretensiosamentin a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
Finnish tärkeilevästi, mahtailevasti
  • tärkeilevästiin a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
  • mahtailevastiin a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
French prétentieusement
  • prétentieusementin a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
Italian pretenziosamente
  • pretenziosamentein a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
Portuguese pretensiosamente
  • pretensiosamentein a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
Spanish pretenciosamente
  • pretenciosamentein a manner with unwarranted claim to importance or distinction
Cite this entry
APA

pretentiously. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretentiously

MLA

“pretentiously.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretentiously. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pretentiously,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pretentiously.

Source: pretentiously on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.