pretentious

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The couple knew immediately that the piece had to be featured in their property, but they wanted to come up with a way to make it appear less pretentious, she continued.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 17, 2025

It still is, albeit pricier and more pretentious, if you ask those who grew up there.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 26, 2025

The 87-year-old Pulitzer finalist and Twitter legend Joyce Carol Oates, whose “laboriously pretentious drivel” would be less enjoyable than “eating a bag of sawdust,” per the world’s wealthiest man.

From Slate • Nov. 13, 2025

Ms. King seeds her love story with engaging dialogue and literary references that are never pretentious or gratuitous.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

Unfusing a participle can make a sentence clumsy or pretentious: Any alleged evils of capitalism are simply the result of people’s being free to choose.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker