as in vanity
an often unjustified feeling of being pleased with oneself or with one's situation or achievements
the sense of smugness that can come with too many easy victories
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smugness
Noun
-
On the surface, vanity PR may look good.—
Jenna Guarneri,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025 -
The report suggests there could also be other operating issues with the vehicle's DC/AC inverter, glove box light, vanity lights, dome lamps, alarm portion of the horn, rear defrost, or the USB charger.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
There are moments, of course, especially with characters like Ken (Tim Key), a middle manager with an outsized ego who routinely makes a mess of things, but tonally this is a very different show than its predecessor.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Children being raised in different homes can still have positive outcomes if both parents are willing to put their egos aside and do the self-work needed to show up as the healthy adults their kids deserve.—
Essence,
Essence,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In a sloppy game, the Eagles will take pride in the turnover differential — the Eagles forced one and did not turn the ball over.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
-
They’re all held back by different things – pride, fear, shame – but all of them, in one way or another, are eventually set free by the truth.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This arrogance is not just limited to tech titans.—
Christian Josi,
Boston Herald,
31 Aug. 2025
-
These traits do not always show up as arrogance.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
As such, Mahomes evidently not only is immune to complacency but actually has become more adamant with success.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Simply put, feeling good on a regular basis doesn’t lead to complacency.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
Just as there’s no dramatic build-up to Maria landing the part, there’s no romance to the process of acting it, nor the slightest whiff of self-satisfaction in recreating iconic scenes.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
21 Mar. 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.
Cite this Entry
“Smugness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smugness. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share