as in smug
having too high an opinion of oneself
thought that the kids at his new school were snobbish and stuck-up
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Recent Examples of stuck-up
Maureen Lee Lenker Published, EW.com, 7 July 2025
Greer’s disdainful, stuck-up lines ooze out of Kidman’s mouth.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2024
Men fear that stepping outside those norms could lead to teasing, looking unprofessional, or appearing too formal or stuck-up.
—Byeva Roytburg, Fortune, 17 June 2024
During his time at Bushwood Country Club, O’Keefe’s character becomes involved in a rivalry amongst a prominent, stuck-up member of the club – Judge Elihu Smails (played by Ted Knight) – and a boisterous, jokester guest named Al Czervik (played by legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield).
—Ben Morse, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
Adjective
The two click, and in episode 3 of the new season, Peggy visits Dr. Kirkland at his home in Newport, meeting his parents, who are extremely stuck-up and look down on Peggy's family's humbler origins.
—Maureen Lee Lenker Published, EW.com, 7 July 2025
Greer’s disdainful, stuck-up lines ooze out of Kidman’s mouth.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2024
Men fear that stepping outside those norms could lead to teasing, looking unprofessional, or appearing too formal or stuck-up.
—Byeva Roytburg, Fortune, 17 June 2024
During his time at Bushwood Country Club, O’Keefe’s character becomes involved in a rivalry amongst a prominent, stuck-up member of the club – Judge Elihu Smails (played by Ted Knight) – and a boisterous, jokester guest named Al Czervik (played by legendary comedian Rodney Dangerfield).
—Ben Morse, CNN, 29 Mar. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stuck-up
Adjective
-
The test case—picturing a cow doing ballet—produces a smug bovine pirouetting.—
Elise Broach,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
My math teachers of old are very smug somewhere.—
Jennifer Maas,
Variety,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Velezquez was working at the Family Dollar store at the corner of Lawrence and Sawyer avenues on April 25, when two men robbed the store.—
Jermont Terry,
CBS News,
2 May 2026
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Prosecutors say Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, fatally shot and robbed Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in the parking lot of Butler’s recording studio in Garland.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The series has devolved into a hysteria that the young and arrogant Timberwolves feed on since that first quarter of Game 2.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
-
However, many thought Tilson Thomas too brash and arrogant to lead an orchestra, and, around the same time, Tilson Thomas fell in with New York’s disco-hopping crowd.—
Jessica Gelt,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In late 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Administration did agree to fund a $42-million buyout program for about 20 homes ruined by the land movement, but that money remains held up in a long approval process, Mihranian said.—
Grace Toohey,
Los Angeles Times,
7 May 2026
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The promise held up when Shoemaker, 64, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2021, when he was covered under the military’s health care program, TRICARE.—
Elizabeth Robinson,
NBC news,
7 May 2026
Adjective
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Warnings, laments, and odes to renewal were expressed pictorially as dying days under bleeding heavens, belching volcanoes, proud icebergs, lavish rainbows amid spangling, mist-suffusing sunlight and dawns of peace and hope.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Simulation Academy at Yale is proud to announce the Graduation of approximately 75 students on Saturday, May 2.—
Simulation Academy at Yale,
Hartford Courant,
4 May 2026
Verb
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The model Nugent and colleagues have homed in on for LFBOTs is the collision of a compact stellar remnant with the leftover helium core from a massive star that has had its outer hydrogen envelope ripped off — a Wolf-Rayet star.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
8 May 2026
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Salinas also confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.—
Dave Collins,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2026
Adjective
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Avoid Burying Praise in Negatives To avoid making children too conceited, parents might bury praise in the midst of negatives.—
Wayne Parker,
Parents,
8 Mar. 2026
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The Pitt definitely feels like the type of workplace where conceited doctors-in-training are pretty much guaranteed to quickly get knocked down a peg.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This would have come as news to the Highland Scots who invaded England in 1745 or the Irish Whiteboys who terrorized landlords and tax collectors a few decades later.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
The European Political Community summit was founded in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stuck-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stuck-up. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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