soi-disant

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   self-styled or self-proclaimed, often with the implication that the claim is doubtful or pretentious

   The soi-disant expert could not answer a basic technical question.

2. 2
   adj

   claimed to have a particular character or status but not genuinely possessing it

   The memoir exposed the club's soi-disant sophistication as mere snobbery.

3. 3
   adv

   rare: supposedly or according to one's own claim

   He was soi-disant qualified to advise the committee.

Borrowed from French soi-disant, literally 'saying oneself,' from soi, 'oneself,' + disant, the present participle of dire, 'to say.' English uses it chiefly with skeptical or mocking force for a status someone claims without convincing others.

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