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as in cavalier
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude the presumptuous doctor didn't even bother to explain to me the treatment that I would be receiving

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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 presumptuous Many felt that the mother-in-law was indeed being presumptuous. Karen Fratti, People.com, 23 Mar. 2025 Maybe some person will be presumptuous enough to wonder aloud what might have influenced the plot of this book. Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2025 Stone sails through all this, seeing off the sneering disapproval of white America and the presumptuous demands of the Black Panthers with equal disdain, and for a time his band, the aptly named Sly and the Family Stone, become a republic within the republic. Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025 Any suggestion that the Eagles offense is just as formidable without Hurts is either hopeful or presumptuous. Brooks Kubena, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for presumptuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for presumptuous
Adjective
  • There is something dangerously, provocatively arrogant about his glorified gang leader looks.
    Timothy Crouse, Rolling Stone, 9 June 2025
  • The exiled poet was criticized for his arrogant attempts to influence British and American foreign policy.
    Graham Robb, The Atlantic, 9 June 2025
Adjective
  • In the summer, people here are too busy enjoying themselves—drinking on patios, reading languorous books, stretching weekends in Crystal Beach or Sherkston out over three, four, five days—to do much of any importance.
    Aidan Ryan June 4, Literary Hub, 4 June 2025
  • Webster said the thought was to fill storefronts closest to the busiest World Cup activities, likely in and around downtown, or within a mile of the streetcar line.
    Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 4 June 2025
Adjective
  • The latter star has landed a number of hits throughout the past few years by repurposing melodies and interpolating hooks from older, familiar smashes by other artists, reworking them into something exciting and new for a different audience.
    Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 31 May 2025
  • Image These Days by Lucy Caldwell London during the Blitz has become a familiar subject of World War II fiction.
    Alida Becker, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • There’s something officious about Alden Ehrenreich.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Jan. 2023
  • Her charming luxury treasure trove has none of that officious chilliness that defines the typical store of its ilk but instead feels like a brocanterie crammed with interesting, unexpected luxury goods from across the world.
    Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 2 Jan. 2023
Adjective
  • Twenty-three years of a smug, smarmy host, and a bunch of sportswriters desperate for sound bites and attention.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2025
  • There’s the divorced couple maintaining their relationship for their children; the happy and occasionally smug monogamist; the man who prefers not to commit; the woman who can’t decide.
    Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times, 15 May 2025
Adjective
  • For a bit of old soul Florida, head to Everglades City, a proud frontier town in subtropical swamp wilderness.
    Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 8 June 2025
  • Their many successes and proud history are well known, so there are plenty of arguments to support Madrid in this competition… and also to want anyone but them to win it.
    Mario Cortegana, New York Times, 8 June 2025
Adjective
  • The blood test could reduce the need for intrusive diagnostics.
    Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
  • Alleging an intrusive shed, a protruding carport and sprinkler damage, a Meridian church has taken legal action against a longtime neighbor.
    Rachel Roberts, Idaho Statesman, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Not to be immodest, but the third did more than the second and the second did more than the first.
    Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2024
  • Not to be immodest, but the third did more than the second and the second did more than the first.
    Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Presumptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/presumptuous. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.

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