I'm looking for a verb used on someone who doesn't have much in the pocket but strains to keep up his/her appearance through constant notions of luxuries he/she doens't really have.
In Chinese we have sayings like "穷嘚瑟(flaunt with no money)" or "装大款(fake being rich)", which are often used in a sarcastic and informal tone; but I haven't had any luck finding any English equivalent yet.
Also, is there an adjective for people behaving like that? Thanks a lot!
Best Answer
The best single word I can think of is "pretentious". You may also like the expression "two bob snob" or "all hat and no cattle" (and its many variants.)