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View synonyms for pretension

pretension

1

[ pri-ten-shuhn ]

noun

  1. the laying of a claim to something.

    Synonyms: profession, assertion

  2. a claim or title to something.
  3. Often pretensions. a claim made, especially indirectly or by implication, to some quality, merit, or the like:

    They laughed at my pretensions to superior judgment.

  4. a claim to dignity, importance, or merit.
  5. pretentiousness.

    Synonyms: pretense, airs, affectation

  6. the act of pretending or alleging.
  7. an allegation of doubtful veracity.
  8. Synonyms: excuse



pretension

2

[ pree-ten-shuhn ]

verb (used with object)

  1. (in prestressed-concrete construction) to apply tension to (reinforcing strands) before the concrete is poured; prestress. Compare posttension ( def 1 ).
  2. to make (a concrete member) with pretensioned reinforcement.

pretension

/ prɪˈtɛnʃən /

noun

  1. often plural a false or unsupportable claim, esp to merit, worth, or importance
  2. a specious or unfounded allegation; pretext
  3. the state or quality of being pretentious
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of pretension1

First recorded in 1400–50; from Medieval Latin praetēnsiōn- (stem of praetēnsiō ); pretense, -ion

Origin of pretension2

First recorded in 1935–40; pre- + tension
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Example Sentences

Buterin is wryly funny and almost wholly devoid of pretension or ego.

From Time

As Lipstein skewers the pretensions and delusions of literary ambition, he reveals the mental tricks that allow writers to imagine that they care only for art, not money or fame.

His great divide stemmed from his love of science and hatred of literary pretension.

Mia Hansen-Løve, always a perceptive director and often a terrific one, takes that risk with Bergman Island—and in the end, after nearly running aground on the rocky shoals of pretension, it pays off.

From Time

Neighborhood bowling alleys have a total lack of pretension in the best way.

From Eater

Trekkies are defensive about the minutiae of their sacred source material, sometimes to the point of pretension.

Humor, after all, is a social corrective against arrogance, ignorance and pretension.

But it's also because, from the APF's point of view, pretension is bad business.

People loved Julia because she was very straightforward, and she didn't put on any airs, or have any pretension.

“So corrupt, evil, vile American liberal culture, such United States pretension,” as Pygmy reports.

The garden was in a perfect state of cultivation, but without the least pretension to taste in its arrangement.

The comic poets ridiculed pretension, arrogance, quackery, and lies.

The truth about the Carlist pretension is so little known in England that it may be well to state it.

The coward is boastful when there is no danger: pretension succeeds in the absence of real merit!

And I'm actuated by positive benevolence; I've that impudent pretension.

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pretensepretensive