All words are composed of one or more morphemes which are the smallest unit of meaning of a word; and these morphemes can be divided into three categories: root words (which hold the most basic meaning of a word but that can not stand on their own), prefixes (Added before a root word) and suffixes (Added at the end of a root word).
The word "pretentious" has two types of morphemes:
- "Pretend" which is the root word and it means to make believe, to give a false appearance of feeling or possessing something (like a quality) or to claim, represent, or assert falsely.
- And "-ious" which is the suffix and it means "full of" or "characterized by."
From the definition of each morpheme, then, we can infer that the word "pretentious" refers to something or someone that is characterized by giving a false appearance of feeling or possessing something.
