ostentatious vs pretentious [closed]

Looking at the definition of these words it appears they are pretty similar:

Pretentious: Having or showing the unpleasant quality of people who want to be regarded as more impressive, successful, or important than they really are [Merriam-Webster]

Ostentatious: Displaying wealth, knowledge, etc., in a way that is meant to attract attention, admiration, or envy [Merriam-Webster]

The way I usually see pretentious being used infers a kind of naivete (an under-educated/lower class person trying to sound intelligent/aristocratic) were as an ostentatious person is upper class, but is flaunting it in an arrogant/gaudy way. Am I way off base here?

No. I think you're spot-on correct. At least that's how I see things.

A pretentious person is pretending (same etymology) to be something or someone he or she is not.

An ostentatious person, on the other hand, delights in flaunting who he or she is and/or what they have. An expression which may reflect the lifestyle of the "rich and famous" is "conspicuous consumption"!

What both pretentious and ostentatious people have in common is their desire to "be seen" by others, or to be the center of attention, whether for ego gratification, perhaps, or out of feelings of insecurity, inferiority, or some other neurosis (for want of a better word ).

No, that sounds pretty on-point, what you have. I'd argue that anyone can be pretentious regardless of class, though. In a nutshell, being ostentatious is flaunting what you have in a ridiculous, over-the-top way, be it wealth, knowledge, skills, or whatever, while being pretentious is flaunting what you think you have and what you think you should have. Generally, being pretentious is the more negative of the two, since it comes with a certain arrogance and an undeserved sense of entitlement.

I think your analysis of the distinction between the words is pretty good. However, pretentiousness doesn't require naiveté or even deception, (except perhaps self-deception.) One can be both ostentatious and pretentious. In fact, I think that the word ostentatious could nearly always be replaced by pretentious without losing meaning.

The difference is that pretentious often carries the judgement of the person using the word that the knowledge, wealth or importance of the person described is undeserved or overblown.