pretentiousness

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English pretentious

Proto-Germanic *-in-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti

Proto-Germanic *-ōną

Proto-Germanic *-inōną

Proto-Indo-European *-dyé-

Proto-Germanic *-atjaną

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Germanic *-þuz

Proto-Germanic *-assuz

Proto-Germanic *-inassuz

Proto-West Germanic *-nassī

Old English -nes

Middle English -nesse

English -ness

English pretentiousness

From pretentious + -ness.

Noun

pretentiousness (countable and uncountable, plural pretentiousnesses)

1. The quality of being pretentious.

   Synonyms: pretentiosity (uncommon), gentility

   Near-synonyms: affectation, affectedness, false pretense, pretending

   • 2015, Cathy Lubenski, Trashy Chic:

     Possibly her sheer pretentiousness, or that she knew everything about everything, or maybe because she treated her reporters like underoxygenated platypies.

   • 2023 March 24, Laura Reiley, “Could nonalcoholic wine be the toast of the town?”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], archived from the original on 15 May 2023:

     Wines can be described with words like cigar box and “pencil lead,” or flinty or with hints of sandalwood — oenophiles can veer into what many might deem pretentiousness pretty quick.

Translations

Translations

• Belarusian: прэтэнцыёзнасць f (pretencyjóznascʹ)
• Polish: pretensjonalność (pl) f
• Russian: претенцио́зность (ru) f (pretencióznostʹ)
• Spanish: pretenciosidad, pretención
• Ukrainian: претензі́йність (uk) f (pretenzíjnistʹ)