pretension

Preposition: of

• other: All thus wish to " secure themselves against the pretensions of others, to acquire for themselves advantages and superior rights.
• man: Like Byron, Blake's first reaction to the pretensions of great men was to laugh out loud.
• grandeur: It has no pretensions of grandeur - simply great food at great prices.
• upwardly-mobile: This funny, cringe-inducing and ultimately shocking classic lays bare the pretensions of the upwardly-mobile in seventies Britain.
• critic: Sixth: The experience of literary men and the history of literature are here in open conflict with the pretensions of the critics.

Converse of object

• mock: Certainly a product of the colonial system, his short stories nonetheless mocked the pretensions of the Barbadian upper classes.
• expose: Economic defeat, similar but much less intense than military defeat, always exposes the pretensions of rulers.
• lack: He oozes talent while lacking pretension, improvisation is in his blood, and as a pianist, he is almost virtuosic.
• have: Melksham once had pretensions of being a Spa town.
• make: To what exactly did the night's plays make pretensions?

Adjective modifier

• imperial: The jokes and puns come thick and fast as the Carry On team hilariously tear imperial pretensions to pieces.
• artistic: Most people just want to read a good story, not get someone's artistic pretensions rammed down their throat.
• literary: Also the name of an Oxford student magazine for those with literary pretensions.
• intellectual: There is rarely any suggestion that the Celts might have maintained a culture of any intellectual pretension.
• architectural: The buildings, as far as they have been excavated, have indications of architectural pretensions.
• such: Henry no longer had any truck with such divine pretensions.

Noun used with modifier

• sporting: These days, most cars with serious sporting pretensions have some sort of fancy complicated gearbox.
• separatist: This state has had separatist pretensions in the past to become an independent republic due to its vast oil wealth.
• rock: For all Bellamy ' s space rock pretensions, it's clearly Dave n ' Billie who've really influenced this album...