What does pretentious mean?
Word: Pretentious
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Pretentious means trying to seem more important, clever or cultured than you really are, in order to impress people.
Synonyms: showy, affected, pompous, boastful
Antonyms: modest, unpretentious, humble, simple
Word origin: Comes from French, from a word meaning 'a claim'; it goes back to a Latin verb meaning 'to put forward'.
How do you spell pretentious?
Syllables: pre - ten - tious
Tricky part: The ending is spelt -tious, not -cious or -sious, even though all three would sound the same.
Watch out for: pretencious, pretensious
Memory tip: Pretentious people like to look ambitious, and both words end in the same -tious.
Pretentious in a sentence
Example 1: The film was so pretentious that even the critics yawned.
Example 2: Using long Latin words in a thank-you note can sound pretentious.
Example 3: The cafe looks plain, but its food is honest and not at all pretentious.
Fun Fact
Its opposite, unpretentious, is usually praise: an unpretentious home or meal is simple, honest and without show.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) ambitious
b) pritentious
c) cautious
d) nutritious
Show answer
b) pritentious. Ambitious, cautious and nutritious are correct; the show-off word begins pre, not pri.
Word Champ
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
pre____tious
a) tenn
b) tan
c) ten
d) tin
Show answer
c) ten. The middle of the word is the number ten, with a single n.
Word Tally
Give 2 marks for each correctly spelt word in the list. What is the total?
pretentious, millennium, occurence, privilege, seperate, questionnaire
a) 10
b) 6
c) 4
d) 8
Show answer
d) 8. Occurrence needs a double r and separate has an a after the p; the other four are right, so 4 x 2 = 8.
Sound Check
In which word is 'ti' pronounced differently?
a) pastime
b) patient
c) pretentious
d) cautious
Show answer
a) pastime. In pastime the ti is said like the word tie; in the other three it makes a sh sound.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which thank-you note sounds pretentious?
a) Thank you so much for the lovely book you sent me.
b) I am profoundly obliged for your munificent largesse.
c) It was very kind of you to remember my birthday.
d) Thanks for the gift; I really like the colour of it.
Show answer
b) I am profoundly obliged for your munificent largesse.
2. A cafe is praised for being unpretentious. Its food is probably ___.
a) simple and honest
b) hard to find
c) fancy and showy
d) very expensive
Show answer
a) simple and honest
