A good word for the opposite of pretentious? – english.stackexchange.com #JHedzWorlD
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Q: What is a good opposite of pretentious?
The dictionary definition is:
“Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed.”
To which I can think of:
Humility: “The quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance.”
Honest/Sincere/Genuine/Truthful: “Free of deceit; truthful and sincere.”, “Free from pretence or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.”, “Truly what something is said to be; authentic.”, “of undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine.”, “Telling or expressing the truth; honest.”
Unassuming: “Not pretentious or arrogant; modest.”
Perhaps instead a short phrase like, “Humble and Honest”.
However for the commonly understood, or vernacular definition, which seems to have a significantly different meaning, perhaps a good opposite would be:
Artless: Without effort or pretentiousness; natural and simple.
Although it’s unfortunate that “artless” is defined as having an association with “natural”.
An example: “I couldn’t follow the film, I found it pretentious.”, the opposite could be “The film lacked nuance and was refreshingly …”
Will unpretentious work?
Not attempting to impress others with an appearance of greater importance, talent, or culture than is actually possessed: a friendly and unpretentious hotel
in spite of his fame he was thoroughly unpretentious
1.1(Of a place) pleasantly simple and functional; modest.
(Oxford Dictionaries Online)
down-to-earth, defined by Merriam-Webster
informal and easy to talk to
practical and sensible
unpretentious — Example: surprised to find the movie star so down–to–earth
1. free from affectation; sincere; genuine:
The man showed unaffected grief at the death of his former opponent.
2. unpretentious, as a personality or literary style.
Genuine (M-W) is mentioned by the OP, but there is an alternate definition which makes it more appropriate than other dismissed terms:
free from hypocrisy or pretense
Perhaps easygoing (MW)
adjective relaxed and informal
It could work with your example sentence: The film lacked nuance and was refreshingly easygoing.
upfront Straightforward; frank
Fits your second sentence as “…refreshingly upfront.”
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
as linked at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/upfront 2016 06 09
Given its frequent usage of late, I’m surprised authentic (Merriam-Webster.com) hasn’t been mentioned.
5 : true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character
Though an answer has already been accepted (and Princeton University’s Cognitive Science Lab interface, “WordNet,” agrees with the choice of unpretentious as an antonym of pretentious), I would offer the following for those who might prefer to avoid the use of the prefix -un in this context for stylistic reasons:
Because pretentious involves claiming a typically unmerited importance for the purpose of being noticed in that regard, it seems reasonable that the opposite of that behavior might be reticent or self-effacing, i.e., reluctant to draw attention to oneself and therefore behaving in such a way as to avoid undue notice even if it was perhaps merited.
The antonym in this sense applies more to a person than the production of a person, as in the example added in the original question (“found the film pretentious”).
To me, what came to mind was down to earth. Colloquially I think that is the most common way to describe someone who is not pretentious.
Unaffected has the most attractive flavor as the opposite of pretentious, just as “free from affectation” would counter “drenched in pretense.” Of course, “unpretentious” is an exact opposite, but its use could come across as staid or boring, or lazy, should one have occasion to express both characteristics next to or too near each other. Then again. there’s always “humilitous” which is itself a very pretentious word to use to express unpretentiousness.
A good word for the opposite of pretentious? – english.stackexchange.com #JHedzWorlD
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