to act like a ponce
- idiom
- Slur
- Please don't act like a ponce at the party; just be yourself.
Examples
-
He was acting like a ponce, flaunting his expensive watch in front of everyone.
-
People get annoyed when she acts like a ponce to impress her friends.
-
Don't act like a ponce in front of your friends!
-
He always acts like a ponce at parties.
-
At the gala, he was acting like a ponce, drawing attention to his designer outfit.
-
Whenever he acts like a ponce, people shake their heads at his over-the-top behavior.
-
She tends to act like a ponce during meetings, always trying to outdo others with flashy stories.
Synonyms
33
9.9
Behaving in a showy, confident way to impress people
6
8.4
Act as if you are better than other people
3
7.5
Act in a flashy way to get attention
2
8.9
To pretend to be someone you are not to impress others
1
9.6
To act in a very exaggerated way to get attention in plays or films
1
9.9
Act in a showy way to impress people
1
8.2
Behave in a very dramatic, demanding way to get special treatment
1
9.1
Act in a proud, showy way
1
9.9
To act in a way that is not natural to impress others
1
8.3
To show off your clothes or things to seem important
Behave in a loud, showy way to get attention
How Pretentious
- Slur
- Informal
269
3.2
- Informal
6
8.4
- Offensive
2
8.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally predictable: 'act' (to behave) + 'like' (similar to) + 'a ponce' (a vain/affected man) yields 'behave in a pretentious or affected way.' Although 'ponce' is slang and culturally marked, a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can derive the overall meaning from their combination.
Etymology
Act like a ponce comes from old British slang where a ponce was a man who dressed and behaved like a dandy, proudly showing off his clothes and money. So to act like a ponce means to behave in a fake, 'showy' way to impress other people.