false ways of behaving that are intended to make other people feel that you are important and belong to a high social class: He was always putting on airs and graces.

Where does the phrase airs and graces come from?

airs and graces an affectation of superiority, recorded from the mid 19th century, as in Thackeray's Vanity Fair (1848), 'Old Sir Pitt… chuckled at her airs and graces, and would laugh…at her assumptions of dignity and imitations of genteel life. '

What does it mean to have airs?

To have airs is to be condescending or arrogant — in other words, to act like you think you're better than other people. If you put on airs, you'll find it hard to make friends. It's most common to find the word airs in the phrase "to put on airs." This basically means to act snobbish or stuck up.