smugness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smugness
Noun
  • Play Tetris in your bathroom vanity or junk drawer with these versatile containers.
    Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Stainless-steel twin vanities are tucked into niches at opposite ends of the 20-foot-long space, while the water closet and double shower are obscured behind frosted glass and metal doors.
    Mark David, Robb Report, 8 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Both are ruggedly handsome, gruff and not short on ego.
    Peter Kiefer, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The best chief executives know that there’s no place for ego in determining when to go; what matters is what’s best for the institution.
    Kurt Strovink, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • In her interview with Us Weekly, Rimes said the lifetime achievement that gives her the most pride is surviving the pitfalls of child stardom — noting that many others have died young.
    Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The Blue-Reds may not have much to fight for other than pride, though that's saying a lot considering it's been five years since the team last recorded a competitive win.
    Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Still, Patel warns Gen Z that confidence can quickly morph into arrogance.
    Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Schmitt suffers a nervous breakdown after his arrogance (and Webber’s long leash on the residency program) leads to him killing a podcaster on the operating table and these two break up again.
    Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Once again, Farley is wary of letting complacency creep in.
    Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The executives have chuckled at the team’s seeming complacency and incapacity for change, which culminated in a 43-119 record in 2025, a finish that put the club on par with the 2024 Chicago White Sox and 1962 New York Mets in terms of futility.
    Andy McCullough, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • After a precise drone and cruise missile successfully hit Saudi Arabia’s vital oil infrastructure in September 2019, Russia could hardly conceal its delight and self-satisfaction.
    Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Trump himself personifies stupidity’s essential feature — self-satisfaction, an inability to recognize the flaws in your thinking.
    David Brooks, Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Smugness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smugness. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

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