as in arrogant
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
the supercilious art dealer rolled her eyes when we asked if she had anything for under $1,000
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in arrogance
an exaggerated sense of one's importance that shows itself in the making of excessive or unjustified claims
can't bear the superciliousness of her cousin, who lives in New York City and thinks everybody in Tennessee is a hick
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of supercilious
Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
Not that Allen wasn’t above poking fun at a friend: In many of their films together, Allen presented Roberts as so cool-headed as to verge on the comically supercilious.
—Peter Tonguette, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Feb. 2025
Still, in many voters’ minds, the association between Democrats and supercilious scolding seems hard to shake.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Even Lu, most closed and supercilious of the bunch, has weird, troubled reservoirs of shame that gradually start to froth and bubble.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
Though emerging out of segregation, Black Greek-letter organizations, too, had supercilious standards for their members and rules about who could join.
—Jazmine Hughes, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
The former focuses on man and nature (namely Navajos and Churro sheep); the latter, an ontological turn from Diné materiality toward Western enlightenment’s supercilious man-versus-nature divide.
—Petala Ironcloud, ARTnews.com, 9 Oct. 2024
That protest puts her in the crosshairs of the supercilious hospital bureaucrat Andrew (Simon McBurney), who seems very willing to throw Liz under the bus, particularly once those grieving parents complain to the tabloid press.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 17 Sep. 2024
Delia has grown warmer, wackier, and less supercilious; O’Hara, a genius of comedy, gives her a faint dash of Moira Rose dottiness.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2024
Adjective
Arthur is … a lot too, but with a supercilious edge?
—Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
Not that Allen wasn’t above poking fun at a friend: In many of their films together, Allen presented Roberts as so cool-headed as to verge on the comically supercilious.
—Peter Tonguette, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 21 Feb. 2025
Still, in many voters’ minds, the association between Democrats and supercilious scolding seems hard to shake.
—Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2024
Even Lu, most closed and supercilious of the bunch, has weird, troubled reservoirs of shame that gradually start to froth and bubble.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2024
Though emerging out of segregation, Black Greek-letter organizations, too, had supercilious standards for their members and rules about who could join.
—Jazmine Hughes, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024
The former focuses on man and nature (namely Navajos and Churro sheep); the latter, an ontological turn from Diné materiality toward Western enlightenment’s supercilious man-versus-nature divide.
—Petala Ironcloud, ARTnews.com, 9 Oct. 2024
That protest puts her in the crosshairs of the supercilious hospital bureaucrat Andrew (Simon McBurney), who seems very willing to throw Liz under the bus, particularly once those grieving parents complain to the tabloid press.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 17 Sep. 2024
Delia has grown warmer, wackier, and less supercilious; O’Hara, a genius of comedy, gives her a faint dash of Moira Rose dottiness.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for supercilious
Adjective
-
The targets of Trump’s economic aggression will accept greater hardship to preserve their dignity than American voters will for the privilege of acting like arrogant menaces.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
29 Apr. 2025
-
This feud carries on today, with Hogan having called out Hart for being too arrogant.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The arrogance of economics and its myriad equations, charts and numbers is astounding.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Others were negative traits to avoid, like irritability, arrogance, and combativeness.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Murrow worked on Adlai Stevenson’s presidential campaign while at CBS, excusing his partiality as moral and intellectual superiority.—
Armond White,
National Review,
30 Apr. 2025
-
The three fundamental pillars of relative superiority are: • It is achieved at the pivotal moment of an engagement.—
Chris Harris,
Forbes.com,
28 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Supercilious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/supercilious. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
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