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.

Here, Coppola brings her respectable, confident disregard for the outsider’s opinion to the documentary format, churning out a film that feels proud but not pretentious.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2026

Johnson’s narrative is enlivened by its colorful cast, particularly the exuberant, and possibly fraudulent, Conte Querini of Venice, and the imperious and pretentious playwright Dorothy Merlin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

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

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

After several months of doing day work, she took a steady job in the home of a family of slender means and nervous, pretentious ways.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison