arrogance

noun

ar·​ro·​gance ˈer-ə-gən(t)s 

ˈa-rə-

: an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions

Synonyms

• assumption
• bumptiousness
• consequence
• haughtiness
• hauteur
• high horse
• huffiness
• imperiousness
• loftiness
• lordliness
• masterfulness
• peremptoriness
• pomposity
• pompousness
• presumptuousness
• pretense
• pretence
• pretension
• pretentiousness
• self-consequence
• self-importance
• superciliousness
• superiority
• toploftiness

Examples of arrogance in a Sentence

He was like a movie star at his high school reunion, muting his arrogance and trying to be a regular guy for old times' sake. He seemed to genuinely appreciate the honor. —Carlo Rotella, New York Times Sports Magazine, June 2008

This kind of official arrogance is not new, of course, although it is perhaps more common in dictatorships than in democracies. —Ian Buruma, New York Times Book Review, 17 Sept. 2006

Arrogance is, at once, what an athlete most needs and what fans least want to see. —Dan Le Batard, ESPN, 15 Mar. 2004

A British expat who could have stepped out of a Graham Greene plot, Twyman makes an improbable Jamaican hero. His self-assurance borders on arrogance, particularly when something is not done precisely the way he would do it himself. —Barry Estabrook, Gourmet, July 2003

Her arrogance has earned her a lot of enemies.

We were shocked by the arrogance of his comments.

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Recent Examples on the Web

Well, call it arrogance or confidence, the player is assertive in his aspirations, wanting to be the best and to leave his mark on Los Blancos. —Henry Flynn, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023

Overall, arrogance among Israeli political and security officials convinced them that the country’s military and technological superiority to Hamas would keep the terrorist group in check. —Maria Abi-Habib, New York Times, 29 Oct. 2023

The encounter was marked by a palpable level of arrogance, disconnect and abruptness emanating from him. —Surinder Kullar, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023

But a man whose 2003 autobiography is titled One Win and Nine Losses cannot be accused of arrogance. —Time, 13 Nov. 2023

There's a lot of arrogance in the business and a lot of maniacal people in the business. —Nigel Smith, Peoplemag, 7 Nov. 2023

Intellectuals often have the arrogance that comes with learning or a lifetime of being praised as clever but usually lack the discipline and will to build real ... —Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 18 Oct. 2023

He was undone partially by a crack team of federal prosecutors who laid out a clear, simple paint-by-numbers picture of his crimes for the jurors, but mostly by his own greed and arrogance. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023

The series traded the character’s Asgardian royalty and arrogance and opened his eyes to greater stakes when he was charged with overseeing the greatest and most undefeated power of all: time itself. —David Betancourt, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English arrogaunce, errogaunce, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French arrogance, arrogaunce, borrowed from Latin arrogantia, noun derivative of arrogant-, arrogans "insolent, overbearing, arrogant"

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

arrogance

noun

ar·​ro·​gance ˈar-ə-gən(t)s 

: a sense of one's own importance that shows itself in a proud and insulting way