What do you call someone who is mediocre at best on a variety of fields but likes to pose as a polished and cultured person?

I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well. This person has a “I’m better than you” or “I know better and say it best” attitude, likes to pass as sensible and intellectual but when you contrast how they try to come across with what they actually do, how indifferent they are to others, and the quality of the skills they like to boast about it doesn’t add up. It’s all superficial, there is no substance to them, and no apparent self awareness ever of any of these shortcomings.

It’s like a special brand of “full of it”. Is there a word for it?

  • beastlykings@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    14 hours ago

    I think the point you might be missing from the OP, is that the person in question doesn’t actually possess this knowledge or skill, but instead of being humble and admitting the gaps in their knowledge, perhaps asking a question or two when they don’t understand, they just plow ahead.

    I know people like this. It’s not malicious I don’t think, maybe it’s more of a defense mechanism? They don’t want to look uninformed, so they try to fill the gaps in their knowledge with assumptions. Maybe they’re right a decent amount of the time, or close enough to fool people who aren’t knowledgeable on the subject. But people who are knowledgeable, will recognize what they’re doing, and the lack of humility comes across as arrogance, even though that may not strictly be the case.

    It’s normal to know a lot of stuff and like a wide variety of things. But you need to be humble when you don’t know something.

    When I don’t know something for sure, I like to say “I think it’s this way, but I could be wrong.” Or something like that. Or heck, if someone else has the knowledge and skills I don’t, I’m right up there asking questions, I want to learn. Maybe I’ll try to impress them with what little I do know on the subject by commenting or asking questions in a way that shows I understand what they’re talking about, because we all want to have self worth. But faking it isn’t cool, and can be harmful, or just annoying.