All 3 Uses of
pretentious
in
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- She pointed out Raincoat's Pinochle Parlor and Slim Jenkins' pretentious saloon.†
p. 206.4pretentious = attempting to act more impressive than is deserved
- My formal Spanish must have sounded as pretentious to the ears of the paisano as "Whither goeth my sire?"
p. 234.6 *pretentious = showy (trying to appear impressive)
- You're a pretentious little bitch, aren't you?†
p. 244.0pretentious = attempting to act more impressive than is deserved
Definitions:
-
(1)
(pretentious) acting more impressive than is deserved
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, the word form, pretension, can mean to apply tension to something before an event--as when a seat belt is pretensioned so it will be snug prior to use in an accident.