pretensions
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.
In Britain, the “angry young men” movement led by John Osborne in the theater was underway, and the social pretensions and expertly crafted witticisms of Coward’s comedies had fallen out of fashion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Edmund is said to be brilliant but we mostly get evidence of his pretensions and “annoying air of lazy authority.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The gap between European pretensions and European reality has become a chasm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Reflecting on the press, he later noted, "The press has pretensions of being a crusader but is more often a preserver of the status quo."
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2025
Ned had last seen the king nine years before during Balon Greyjoy's rebel-lion, when the stag and the direwolf had joined to end the pretensions of the self-proclaimed King of the Iron Is-lands.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
