smugger; smuggest
1
: highly self-satisfied
2
: trim or smart in dress : spruce
3
: scrupulously clean, neat, or correct : tidy
smugly adverb
smugness noun

Examples of smug in a Sentence

Meanwhile, supporters are smug and righteous that the person who manages the world's leading stock exchange deserves every million. Susan Lee, Wall Street Journal, 10 Sept. 2003
Alice Norcross Pratt, a local stay-at-home mom, is portrayed as smug and pious, yet we also see glimmers of her hidden longings. Elizabeth Graver, New York Times Book Review, 27 May 2001
Once, Roy dared shooters to beat him with a shot between his legs. Now, he no longer passes out such smug invitations. The goalie who transformed the butterfly technique into an art form has humbly decided to keep his skates a little closer together … Mark Kiszla, ESPN, 28 May 2001
She was tall and beautiful and multilingual and fiercely opinionated. One of her opinions held that the rags that passed for literary magazines on campus were so smug and tame and insular that it was hopeless to even try to reform them; they simply needed to be replaced. Tom Perrotta, Joe College, 2000
It's OK to celebrate your success, but try not to be too smug about it. You can wipe that smug look off your face.
Recent Examples on the Web On the adult side, Daniel Dae Kim is perfectly smug and sinister as Ozai. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2024 And frankly, that sort of thing now feels more than a bit smug. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Feb. 2024 Not a single amusing moment in sight, just a smug sense of minimum standards being met. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 9 Feb. 2024 The camera cuts to Nana proudly toting a weapon the size of her body, a smug look on her face. Laura Zornosa, Time, 18 Aug. 2023 His performance tracking Roman Roy's descent from smug to shattered to shambolic already won him a 2024 Golden Globe Award on Jan. 7. Lanford Beard, Peoplemag, 15 Jan. 2024 But before our European readers get too smug, this biggification is happening there, too. Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 18 Aug. 2023 What will hurt the series, a Disney+ or Star original for much of the world, is how flat and vaguely smug the last two episodes are, despite a welcome late-season cameo from Eddie Izzard as part of an abrupt twist that the writers mistake for timeliness. Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Dec. 2023 This movie seems proud, even smug, about recycling scraps from other fairy tales. Kyle Smith, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'smug.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably modification of Low German smuck neat, from Middle Low German, from smucken to dress; akin to Old English smoc smock

First Known Use

1551, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of smug was in 1551

Dictionary Entries Near smug

Cite this Entry

“Smug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smug. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

smug

adjective
smugger; smuggest
: highly satisfied with oneself : complacent
smugly adverb
smugness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on smug

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