different between pretentious vs wankery

English

Alternative forms

• prætentious (rare, pedantic or (esp. self-referentially) humorous)

Etymology

From French prétentieux, from prétention, from Latin praet?nsus (“false or hypocritical profession”), past participle of praetend?.

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???t?n??s/

Adjective

pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)

1. Intended to impress others; ostentatious.

   Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.

2. Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

   Their song titles are pretentious in the context of their basic lyrics.

Synonyms

• poseur
• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Antonyms

• unpretentious

Derived terms

• pretentiously
• pretentiousness

Related terms

• pretend
• pretender
• pretense
• pretension

Translations

References

• pretentious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pretentious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pretentious at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• postuterine

English

Etymology

wank +? -ery

Pronunciation

Noun

wankery (uncountable)

1. (Britain, slang, vulgar) Unnecessary or pretentious noodling (messing around).
   • 2002, Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock

     The core band, meanwhile, had clearly honed their chops well on stage; Ashton's lead guitar work avoids both wankery and simplicity […]

   • 2007, Everett True, Nirvana: The Biography

     Sub Pop was different, they were arty and more into darker, weirder stuff like Big Black. K was pretty much the opposite of that kind of macho wankery.