as in cocky
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude the arrogant young lawyer elbowed his way to the head of the line of customers, declaring that he was too busy to wait like everybody else

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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an arrogant attitude
a pompous attitude
a smug attitude
an overconfident attitude
a snobbish attitude
a conceited attitude
arrogant people
cocky people
egotistical people
pompous people
conceited people
an arrogant assumption
an audacious assumption
a pompous assumption
a presumptuous assumption
an overconfident assumption
a boastful assumption

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective arrogant differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of arrogant are disdainful, haughty, insolent, lordly, overbearing, proud, and supercilious. While all these words mean "showing scorn for inferiors," arrogant implies a claiming for oneself of more consideration or importance than is warranted.

a conceited and arrogant executive

When is disdainful a more appropriate choice than arrogant?

The synonyms disdainful and arrogant are sometimes interchangeable, but disdainful suggests a more active and openly scornful superciliousness.

disdainful of their social inferiors

When would haughty be a good substitute for arrogant?

The words haughty and arrogant are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, haughty suggests a consciousness of superior birth or position.

a haughty aristocrat

When might insolent be a better fit than arrogant?

The words insolent and arrogant can be used in similar contexts, but insolent implies contemptuous haughtiness.

ignored by an insolent waiter

When could lordly be used to replace arrogant?

The meanings of lordly and arrogant largely overlap; however, lordly implies pomposity or an arrogant display of power.

a lordly condescension

Where would overbearing be a reasonable alternative to arrogant?

While the synonyms overbearing and arrogant are close in meaning, overbearing suggests a tyrannical manner or an intolerable insolence.

an overbearing supervisor

When can proud be used instead of arrogant?

In some situations, the words proud and arrogant are roughly equivalent. However, proud may suggest an assumed superiority or loftiness.

too proud to take charity

When is it sensible to use supercilious instead of arrogant?

While in some cases nearly identical to arrogant, supercilious implies a cool, patronizing haughtiness.

an aloof and supercilious manner

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of arrogant In Aesop’s fable, the turtle (traditionally called a tortoise, which is a type of turtle) is a winner, a perpetual underdog who defeats the arrogant hare. A.o. Scott, New York Times, 13 June 2025 Being a Housewife is a wonderful way to learn how to navigate a new socioeconomic class, but Brit is too arrogant to humble herself and learn from the women. Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 9 June 2025 Not to be arrogant, but our Best-Ever Succotash Recipe lives up to its name, and all of the five-star reviewers seem to agree with us. Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 8 June 2025 There is something dangerously, provocatively arrogant about his glorified gang leader looks. Timothy Crouse, Rolling Stone, 9 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for arrogant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arrogant
Adjective
  • The story itself is stripped to bone and sinew: a sleepy New England beach town that wants tourist dollars more than truth, an invisible killer in plain water, and three men — one scared sheriff, one cocky scientist, one Ahab of a fisherman — set adrift to settle nature’s score.
    Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
  • The Pacers—athletic, young, clever, cocky guys with vibes like the youngest brother in a rich exurban family—answered with pesky defense and an approach to basketball that more nearly approximated a sprint-heavy peewee track meet.
    Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • And more than any other animal, cats represented to her its moral antithesis: lazy, pompous, interested only in themselves.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 June 2025
  • At 11:30, as the simultaneously pompous and obsequious gate agent announces the passengers above gold status, the bit, already tilting toward insanity, leaves any attempt to portray a real airport behind and dives fully into Alice in Wonderland–level surrealism.
    John Roy, Vulture, 8 May 2025
Adjective
  • This can lead to greater customer satisfaction and superior end-user experience—especially in internet-facing domains such as media streaming, Web gaming and trading, which require high performance, real-time response and low-latency connectivity.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • With superior high-carbon stainless steel blades, this knife set offers top-notch accuracy and precision.
    BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 30 June 2025
Adjective
  • How to spot a fake Social Security scam email While phishing emails are designed to look convincing, there are always subtle but important signs that give them away.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 July 2025
  • This is important, because academic research has shown that financial literacy educational programs need to generate a sense of excitement in order to have an impact.
    Hersh Shefrin, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
Adjective
  • The show perpetuates corporate media’s retaliation against those who oppose its leftist, Marxist, Communist, socialist agenda — the ideological myth favored by superficial and supercilious showbiz types ever since All the President’s Men and Network.
    Armond White, National Review, 30 Apr. 2025
  • Arthur is … a lot too, but with a supercilious edge?
    Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Santa Monica was a town in flux when Miller was in high school at the turn of the millennium: a Berkeley meets Beverly Hills where haughty affluence was rapidly eclipsing the Birkenstocks and counterculture bumper stickers.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2025
  • This information doesn’t make the prospect of leaving her home painless, but Ruth approaches it with a haughty dignity that soon becomes familiar.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Adjective
  • In Superman, Bennett steps into the shoes of Steve Lombard, the Daily Planet's smug sports reporter.
    EW.com, EW.com, 28 June 2025
  • One of Ferrell’s biggest and best movies was this hilarious racing spoof, which followed the rise and fall and rise of a smug champion racer, his complicated friendship with best pal and fellow racer John C. Reilly, and his rivalry with an effete, snotty Frenchman played by Sacha Baron Cohen.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
Adjective
  • This splendid, wry satire is about a wealthy family, self-important and confident in their morality, whose blithe and bumptious existences are thrown into disarray when their father clandestinely decides to give all their money to charity, and so (in their opinions) completely destroys their lives.
    Literary Hub July 1, Literary Hub, 1 July 2025
  • As Peggy Dodd, consigliere to her bumptious 1950s cult-leader husband, Adams tends to wear a soft smile and blouses buttoned to the neck — a picture-perfect model of mid-century femininity.
    Matthew Jacobs, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Arrogant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arrogant. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.

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