Apedia

Complacent  Marked From  Complacent  One's Dictionary Adjective Of 

Title complacent
Text
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
com·pla·cent

 \\kəm-ˈplā-sənt\\ adjective
 ETYMOLOGY  Latin complacent-, complacens, present participle of complacēre to please greatly, from com- + placēre to please — more at 
please
 DATE  1760
1. marked by complacency : 
self-satisfied
    a complacent smile
2. 
complaisant
 1
3. 
unconcerned
• com·pla·cent·ly adverb
English Etymology
complacent
  1650s, from L. complacentem "pleasing," prp. of complacere(see complacence). Related: Complacently (1816).
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7
complacent
com·pla·cent / kEm5pleisnt / adjective    ~ (about sb / sth) (usually disapproving) too satisfied with yourself or with a situation, so that you do not feel that any change is necessary; showing or feeling 
complacency
 
   自满的;自鸣得意的;表现出自满的:
   a dangerously complacent attitude to the increase in unemployment 
   对失业增加抱满不在乎的危险态度 
   We must not become complacent about progress. 
   我们决不能因进步变得自满。 
• com·pla·cent·ly adv.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English
Oxford Collocations dictionary for students of English


complacent 
adj. 
VERBS appear, be, seem, sound | become, get, grow 

ADV. extremely, remarkably, very | far from Teachers are far from complacent about this problem. | rather, somewhat | alarmingly, dangerously This view seems alarmingly complacent. 

PREP. about It is vital that we do not get complacent about this disease. 

OLT
complacent adj.
⇨ smug
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged
Search result show the entry is found in: 
self-complacent

com·pla·cent
\-ənt\ adjective
Etymology: Latin complacent-, complacens very pleasing, present participle of complacēre to please greatly, from com- + placēre to please — more at 
please
1. 
 a. : marked by sometimes unwarranted, uncritical, and irritating satisfaction and pleasure at one's own personality, accomplishments, or situation
  < complacent when they should have been self-critical — Allan Nevins & H.S.Commager >
  < the complacent ones, to those who love themselves much but not too wisely — M.R.Cohen >
 b. : marked by or as if by unruffled or blasé satisfaction about the security of one's position or by careless acceptance of events around one : disinclined to act, to change, or to guard
  < the complacent case of obesity — Arnold Bennett >
  < in that complacent old world … youth did not easily feel the impact of national problems — John Buchan >
2. 
 a. : feeling or showing complaisance or desire to please
  < the University of Colorado courteously released me from my contract, but the Garrett Biblical Institute was less complacent — R.M.Lovett >
 b. : marked by smooth even contented ease without notable activity, tension, or stress
  < townfolk made a complacent living by trading with countryfolk — American Guide Series: Texas >
3. of a tree or a forest : marked by evenness and regularity in the growth of annual rings regardless of different conditions in different years — opposed to sensitive
Synonyms: 
 
self-complacent
, 
self-satisfied
, 
smug
, 
priggish
: 
complacent
 may imply a feeling of assured well-being and absence of worry or complaint
  < the people who suffer most from their conscience are obviously the sensitive and high-minded, while self-approbation comes most easily to the complacent and fortune-favored Jack Horners — M.R.Cohen >
  It may suggest a gloating superiority or a blameworthy lassitude and lack of drive
  < his insufferable smile was more complacent than ever — A. Conan Doyle >
  < the chief occasion on which he aspired to rise above the level of complacent mediocrity — H.E.Nettles >
  
self-complacent
 and 
self-satisfied
 stress satisfaction at one's own personality or situation and may suggest ill-based pride, self-deception, depreciation of others, indolent or blind inactivity
  < the strong, self-complacent Luther declares … that “God himself cannot do without wise men” — R.W.Emerson >
  < those flaunting childish family portraits, with their farce of sentiment and smiling lies, and innocence so self-conscious and self-satisfied — W.M.Thackeray >
  < Stroeve, eager for praise and naively self-satisfied, could never resist displaying his work — W.S.Maugham >
  
smug
 indicates accustomed feelings about oneself of superiority, rectitude, or utter security
  < our smug conviction that somehow we are more virtuous than the rest of the world, and that everyone should realize it — Richard Watts >
  < a smug and arrogant look about him, as is often the case with men who have unexpectedly acquired great power or great wealth — Kenneth Roberts >
  
smug
 often suggests narrow provincialism. 
priggish
 may suggest finical adherence to one's ideas or notions, perhaps ill-based, and an odious self-righteousness
  < there is something artificial and even priggish about Goethe's healthiness, as there is about Baudelaire's unhealthiness — T.S.Eliot >
  < that unpromising young man with high collar and pince-nez whose somewhat priggish air of superiority infuriated most of the Democrats — A.M.Schlesinger b.1917 >

Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.

Next card: Complain  to verb complained to   may at  english

Previous card: Compare  to compared verb from  compared  to  similar

Up to card list: English learning