this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2025
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Can you help me find the right word to describe this annoying person? (mander.xyz)
submitted 13 hours ago by Mothra@mander.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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What do you call someone who is mediocre at best on a variety of fields but likes to pose as a polished and cultured person?

I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well. This person has a "I'm better than you" or "I know better and say it best" attitude, likes to pass as sensible and intellectual but when you contrast how they try to come across with what they actually do, how indifferent they are to others, and the quality of the skills they like to boast about it doesn't add up. It's all superficial, there is no substance to them, and no apparent self awareness ever of any of these shortcomings.

It's like a special brand of "full of it". Is there a word for it?

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[โ€“] null@piefed.au 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Here's an example usage from cambridge dictionary:

Is he a pretentious postmodern dilettante barely concealing his limitations behind mannered overwrought wordplay and the needless over-ornamentation of derivative rock songs and genre pastiches?

[โ€“] Mothra@mander.xyz 3 points 10 hours ago

Yes, yes Cambridge, that's right