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
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Recent Examples of smugness
Where Spider masked his incompetence with bravado and abrasiveness, Claude put up a thin layer of smugness that collapsed when faced with even a tiny amount of resistance.
—
Brian Grubb, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
Brian Grubb, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smugness
Noun
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Further forward lies a galley, lobby, and an owner’s suite with an office, vanity, walk-in wardrobe, and en suite.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
4 Nov. 2025
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The camera then panned to her vanity to reveal a Sephora bag — teasing her new holiday brand deal — knocked over with some items missing.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
1 Nov. 2025
Noun
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That merely meant coach Brian Dutcher didn’t have to delicately parcel out playing time while massaging egos on his Mariana Trench-deep roster, and the bench shortened by circumstance delivered a 77-45 win powered by a pair of true freshmen and a typically frenetic defensive effort.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Nov. 2025
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With Venus in your career zone squaring Pluto in your sign, power struggles or clashes of ego could surface, especially if others project their expectations onto you.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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For those who do know him, the optics are less about political pressure and more about simple, unadulterated pride.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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The 17-song record is composed of música jíbara, or Puerto Rican folk, a staple of the island’s musical and cultural traditions, and tackles themes of political resistance and cultural pride.—
Thania Garcia,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In a post dripping with arrogance, Lynch dished out demeaning nicknames for her recent opponents.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
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This propensity for mental acrobatics, alongside his immense arrogance, was how Epstein rationalized his crimes to himself.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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For Dimon, the danger is internal complacency.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2025
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After a half-century in which energy was not a tool of statecraft, complacency set in.—
John Kerry,
semafor.com,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Smugness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smugness. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.
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