# pretentious

> English word · Adjective · IPA /pɹɪˈtɛn.t͡ʃəs/ · frequency rank #23,367

## Definitions
1. Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.
2. Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

## Etymology
From French prétentieux, from prétention, from Latin praetēnsus (“false or hypocritical profession”), past participle of praetendō.
Note that pretentious is spelled with a ‘t’, unlike related pretense, pretension. This is due to the French spelling: *-sious does not occur as an English suffix, though -sion and -tion both do.

## Common misspellings (16)
`pertentious`, `ppretentious`, `preetntious`, `pretenitous`, `pretenntious`, `pretentiosu`, `pretentiouss`, `pretentiuos`, `pretentoius`, `pretenttious`, `pretetnious`, `pretnetious`, `prettentious`, `prretentious`, `prteentious`, `rpetentious`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pretentious