pretentiousness

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /prɪˈtɛnʃəsnəs/ UK /prɪˈtɛnʃəsnəs/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the quality of attempting to impress by affecting greater importance than is real

The film's pretentiousness alienated even sympathetic critics.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of attempting... pretension affectation ostentation pompositygrandiosityshowinesssnobbery

Opposites

modesty humilityunpretentiousness

Word family

Related forms pretentious pretend pretense

Etymology

From pretentious (from French prétentieux, ultimately from Latin praetendere 'to allege') + the suffix -ness.

praetendere Latin tendere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# pretentiousness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** prɪˈtɛnʃəsnəs
**IPA (UK):** prɪˈtɛnʃəsnəs

## Meanings
1. the quality of attempting to impress by affecting greater importance than is real

## Examples
- The film's pretentiousness alienated even sympathetic critics.

## Synonyms
- pretension
- affectation
- ostentation
- pomposity
- grandiosity
- showiness
- snobbery

## Antonyms
- modesty
- humility
- unpretentiousness

## Related Forms
- pretentious
- pretend
- pretense

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: praetendere
- Root: tendere

## Etymology
From pretentious (from French prétentieux, ultimately from Latin praetendere 'to allege') + the suffix -ness.

## AI Etymology
Pretentiousness is from pretentious (from French prétentieux, ultimately from Latin praetendere 'to allege') + the suffix -ness. Important recorded forms include praetendere (Latin) and tendere (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense remains close to that composition, with the parts narrowing into a single lexical item. In current use it covers the quality of attempting to impress by affecting greater importance than is real. The wider family includes related words such as pretentious, pretend, and pretense.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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pretentiousness

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