How to Use pretension in a Sentence

pretension

noun
  • I admire his honesty and lack of pretension.
  • He spoke about his achievements without pretension.
  • The restaurant offers excellent food without pretension.
  • The pretension of wine culture leaves a bad taste in her mouth.
    Taylor Mims, Billboard, 2 June 2022
  • And then the second part is that there’s no pretension.
    Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2023
  • Every so often the seas rise up and blow away all the pomp and pretension.
    Charles Graeber, Travel + Leisure, 6 Mar. 2021
  • Maybe there is simply not enough pretension in the world.
    Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 20 May 2022
  • But Wall Street no longer wears its old pretensions on pin-striped sleeves.
    Claire Ballentine, chicagotribune.com, 20 Sep. 2019
  • Her shots are pretty in the realest sense of the word, and glamorous without pretension.
    Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Nov. 2019
  • There is none of the self-consciousness or pretension that such fusions tend to have north of the Rio Grande. .
    Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2019
  • At Callie, there is no pretension, no white tablecloths in the dining room and no chef’s coats in the kitchen.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2021
  • Chumley’s was too old and too small for any such pretensions.
    Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek, 2 Feb. 2017
  • Wearing shades sans-sun used to scream pretension or pink eye.
    Tatum Dooley, Teen Vogue, 31 May 2019
  • The labels, too, shed pretension, reminding one of album art — stark and to the point.
    Joseph Hernandez, chicagotribune.com, 14 Feb. 2018
  • The pieces are meta and self-aware but not weighed down by excess pretension or sporty detailing.
    Liz Raiss, GQ, 14 May 2018
  • The only odor no one ever detects is a whiff of pretension.
    Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 29 June 2023
  • Her boys laughed at her pretensions, prattle, and lack of culture.
    Longreads, 21 June 2017
  • It’s the pretension, naïve and arrogant, that the laws of the gods apply to everyone except us.
    Brian T. Allen, National Review, 30 Oct. 2020
  • Related Yet the show floated along on its own lack of pretension.
    Ben Fritz, WSJ, 7 Jan. 2019
  • Maison Close has a buzzy and chic vibe which lacks pretension and arrogance.
    Jeryl Brunner, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023
  • The Oscars do more harm than good, pushing year-end films toward pretension in a scramble for prizes.
    Hal Boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, 5 Mar. 2018
  • What saves the gimmick from tipping over into leaden pretension is a sense of play.
    Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Oct. 2022
  • But The Bear has earned its ambitions, even a little pretension.
    Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 22 June 2023
  • The stylish show is choreographed, as the title would demand, but without pretension.
    Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 5 June 2022
  • On that front, The Wrath of Becky delivered without pretension.
    A.a. Dowd, Chron, 16 Mar. 2023
  • That pretension extends beyond the title, with the movie opening with a quote from Plato.
    Kimber Myers, latimes.com, 20 July 2017
  • Yes, great beach towns run up and down the California coastline, but Solana Beach stands out for its utter lack of pretension.
    Anne Olivia Bauso, Travel + Leisure, 25 Apr. 2021
  • Ginza Iwa Ginza Iwa is high-end sushi without the pretension.
    Melinda Joe, Condé Nast Traveler, 27 Feb. 2018
  • Expect the elements of a swanky Italian restaurant in SoHo — a long granite bar, a wood-plank floor — but not the pretension.
    Bryan Miller, Town & Country, 8 Sep. 2013
  • Logan is used to things being handed to him on a silver platter, and his pretension drives a wedge between them.
    Natalie Morin, refinery29.com, 15 Mar. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pretension.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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