[‘ Intellectual or social pretension or affectation; pseudo-intellectual speech, writing, debate, etc.']
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈs(j)uːd(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈsudəri/
Etymology: < pseud n. + -ery suffix. Compare pseudish adj.
/colloq./ /derogatory/.
Intellectual or social pretension or affectation; pseudo-intellectual speech, writing, debate, etc.
1972 /Guardian/ 24 Feb. 10/3 There’s nothing like an overt piece of pseudery to make one feel all lilywhite.
1975 /Daily Tel./ 30 Aug. 6/2 In another paper, a psychiatrist solemnly reported his finding that ‘in general fat people do not go to university’… These farragoes of improbable pseudery..tend to be prefaced by an enormously portentous address.
1976 /Broadcast/ 12 Jan. 9/3 Capital’s Sunday pseudery gets the boot.
1996 H. Marks /Mr Nice/ (1998) i. 19 Prison fare had cured me of that bit of pompous pseudery.