One who has never obtained licensure or even earned an undergraduate degree in engineering, but tells people he's an engineer anyway in order to stroke his ego. Technically unlawful under most jurisdictions.
Chase tells everyone he's a professional engineer, but he's only obtained a 2-year technician's degree. What a pretengineer.
by Hairdressor459 July 12, 2017
When a person, who is not an engineer or an engineering student, tries to explain engineering concepts to you, and fails miserably.
Geo Engineer: That batter is safe. It will not fail.
Safety Officer: That batter isn't safe, it's going to fail.
Site Engineer: F*** that safety officer is such an idiot!
Me: Yeah, what a pretengineer!
Safety Officer: That batter isn't safe, it's going to fail.
Site Engineer: F*** that safety officer is such an idiot!
Me: Yeah, what a pretengineer!
by Rumbley October 31, 2011
The art of pretending to engineer or possess scientific and/or technical knowledge. Pretengineering may be motivated by idiocy, intense laziness, or a hangover.
Rick was pretengineering for all he was worth at the meeting this morning, which was not much. The Leaning tower of Pisa was obviously built by pretengineers.
by tranceglobal41 October 10, 2008