Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The quality of being pretentious; undue assumption of excellence, importance, or dignity.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The quality of being
pretentious .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
- noun the quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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On this level, however, the charge of pretentiousness is open to a number of challenges.
Archive 2008-04-01 Hal Duncan 2008
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Since the vulgarity of the text or writer accused of pretentiousness is in direct proportion to the "difficulty", the accusation functions as an expression of anti-intellectualism.
Archive 2008-04-01 Hal Duncan 2008
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Since the vulgarity of the text or writer accused of pretentiousness is in direct proportion to the "difficulty", the accusation functions as an expression of anti-intellectualism.
Pretentiousness Hal Duncan 2008
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What I'm talking about when I say pretentiousness is that this entire post smacks of the type of review a reviewer makes to sound like they are "hip" and "with it."
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On this level, however, the charge of pretentiousness is open to a number of challenges.
Pretentiousness Hal Duncan 2008
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Still at the stage where I'm not sure whether this is an actual story or just an exercise in pretentiousness.
Statement of Intent, 6/10/09 kirizal 2009
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Mr. Hope does have a point, though, about the pretentiousness, which is an obvious failing in White's fiction: The wonderfully rich and intricate structure of his last novel, Riders in the Chariot, was (for me, at least) harmed by the willful imposition of the chariot symbol.
Bouillabaisse Bergonzi, Bernard 1966
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As a parting gift, anyway, here's a little musical and televisual "pretentiousness" as illustration, in the form of Daisy Chainsaw and an interview with their singer, Katie Jane Garside, by Paul Morley.
Pretentiousness Hal Duncan 2008
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If texts become more and more estranged from the current generation's readers general vocabularies, then could it be argued that perhaps "pretentiousness," in both its correct and misapplied forms might become more apparent?
Pretentiousness Hal Duncan 2008
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As a parting gift, anyway, here's a little musical and televisual "pretentiousness" as illustration, in the form of Daisy Chainsaw and an interview with their singer, Katie Jane Garside, by Paul Morley.
Archive 2008-04-01 Hal Duncan 2008
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