as in pretentious
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Recent Examples of fancy-pants
Our city is a connect-the-dots map of marvels from hole-in-the-wall joints serving next-level noodles in Queens to fancy-pants French brasseries pouring freezer martinis from gilded carts in SoHo.
—
Andrea Strong, Bon Appetit Magazine, 10 Feb. 2026
Hotel-wise, the best place to be is either Kinloch Lodge, for belt-loosening cuisine and sing-worthy service, or Flodigarry Hotel, an off-compass outpost with a fancy-pants design bar and suites that wouldn’t look out of place in the Maldives.
—Mike MacEacheran, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2025
Partridge was dressed in classic English fancy-pants style, while Rodrigo embraced the vintage preppiness inherent to gingham.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 2 July 2025
The surprise of Clover Hill is not that this sort of food is on offer in an outer borough—with its concentration of zillion-dollar brownstones and fancy-pants residents, Brooklyn Heights isn’t exactly salt of the earth.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
With crust that's beautifully singed and wondrously puffed, the not-so-basic numbers are polished with fancy-pants ingredients—from Calabrian chile, fennel and sausage to a cacio e pepe riff made with velvety cream sauce, formaggi al pepe and pecorino.
—Brooke Viggiano, Chron, 12 Mar. 2023
Andrea Strong, Bon Appetit Magazine, 10 Feb. 2026
Hotel-wise, the best place to be is either Kinloch Lodge, for belt-loosening cuisine and sing-worthy service, or Flodigarry Hotel, an off-compass outpost with a fancy-pants design bar and suites that wouldn’t look out of place in the Maldives.
—Mike MacEacheran, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Sep. 2025
Partridge was dressed in classic English fancy-pants style, while Rodrigo embraced the vintage preppiness inherent to gingham.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 2 July 2025
The surprise of Clover Hill is not that this sort of food is on offer in an outer borough—with its concentration of zillion-dollar brownstones and fancy-pants residents, Brooklyn Heights isn’t exactly salt of the earth.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 21 July 2024
With crust that's beautifully singed and wondrously puffed, the not-so-basic numbers are polished with fancy-pants ingredients—from Calabrian chile, fennel and sausage to a cacio e pepe riff made with velvety cream sauce, formaggi al pepe and pecorino.
—Brooke Viggiano, Chron, 12 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fancy-pants
Adjective
-
There’s nothing pretentious here.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 May 2026
-
Crafted from 100 percent Italian calf suede and finished with smooth nappa leather, this crossbody bag is elegant from top to bottom without being pretentious.—
Tanya Sharma,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The Mario series was maturing alongside the greater video-game landscape, but its childlike essence remained—not through docile cuteness, but through a more grandiose fusion of wonder, whimsy, and wistfulness.—
Billie Bugara,
Pitchfork,
9 May 2026
-
Victory Day is one of the most important national holidays in modern Russia, featuring a grandiose parade to celebrate and commemorate its defeat of Hitler’s Wehrmacht in 1945.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
Then give the land back, you pompous charlatans.—
Joe Soucheray,
Twin Cities,
2 May 2026
-
And the less said of the poorly mixed, pompous Machina, the better.—
Kory Grow,
Rolling Stone,
3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Some even require dedicated facilities, leading to inflated costs.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
14 May 2026
-
The new movie, by contrast, is an inflated meditation on fiction and reality.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
Purple-striped are large silvery white with deep purple bands.—
Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado,
Sacbee.com,
20 May 2026
-
Georgia is much more purple and has two Democratic senators.—
Domenico Montanaro,
NPR,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
Light Materials Even if the scale is on point, heavy, ornate, and dark materials can still make a space feel bulky.—
Quincy Bulin,
Southern Living,
12 May 2026
-
From the dress’ ornate gold design to the model’s makeup and hairstyling, the entire look was reminiscent of costumes worn by the actress.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
11 May 2026
Adjective
-
Her set was a triumph, in part because her energetic delivery injected life into the proceedings after the show had slipped into a monotonous rhythm halfway through its bloated, nearly three-hour runtime.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
12 May 2026
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March Madness going from 68 to 76 teams represents a roughly 12% increase in teams added to the field, hardly a drop in the bucket for an already-bloated postseason tournament.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
Inspired by Arcachon’s traditional stilted fishing huts, this signature suite has been styled by a succession of couture designers, starting with Maison Martin Margiela.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 May 2026
-
After the singing the men lapsed into a stilted small talk again.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fancy-pants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fancy-pants. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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