supercilious
adjective
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What is the origin of supercilious?
Arrogant and disdainful types tend to raise an eyebrow at anything they consider beneath them. The original supercilious crowd must have shown that raised-eyebrow look often, because the adjective supercilious derives from "supercilium," Latin for eyebrow. (We plucked our adjective and its meaning from the Latin adjective superciliosus.) "Supercilious" has been used to describe the censoriously overbearing since the late 1600s, but there was a time in the 1700s when it was also used as a synonym of another "supercilium" descendent, "superciliary" ("of, relating to, or adjoining the eyebrow"). Although the eyebrow sense of "supercilious" is now obsolete, it does help explain what ornithologist John Latham meant in 1782 when he described a "Supercilious K[ingfisher]" with a narrow orange stripe over its eyes.
Synonyms
- arrogant
- assumptive
- bumptious
- cavalier
- chesty
- haughty
- high-and-mighty
- high-handed
- high-hat
- highfalutin
- hifalutin
- huffish
- huffy
- imperious
- important
- lofty
- lordly
- masterful
- overweening
- peremptory
- pompous
- presuming
- presumptuous
- pretentious
- self-asserting
- self-assertive
- sniffy
- stiff-necked
- superior
- toplofty
- toploftical
- uppish
- uppity
Example Sentences
Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie, 1998 Cross' popular academic sleuth Kate Fansler returns, this time as a guest professor at the down-at-the-heels Schuyler Law School, where she has been asked to teach a course on literature and the law. Ardent feminist Kate soon finds that not only is Schuyler a bastion of intolerant, supercilious white males, but worse, any attempt by women or minorities to be heard is quickly quashed by the old-boy network. Emily Melton, Booklist, 15 Dec. 1994 Jorgeson had a sharp tongue and was so supercilious in his remarks that I didn't know quite how seriously I should take this talk, but I enjoyed his humor and I did believe he had the sensibilities of an artist. Thom Jones, New Yorker, 2 Dec. 1991 the supercilious art dealer rolled her eyes when we asked if she had anything for under $1,000 Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY, 6 Aug. 2022 To advertise that confidence with an unselfconscious, open-mouthed, haplessly disarming smile — to resist the urge, in other words, to fake an air of supercilious self-importance — is the very best thing. Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2022 From a supercilious smile to icy anger and back again, wonderfully easeful Charles Edwards is every inch the droll Vidal. David Benedict, Variety, 10 Dec. 2021 Absent context, hand gestures perform a supercilious pantomime. Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2021 On the surface, Richardson appears unequivocally bold, toeing the line between confident and supercilious. oregonlive, 19 June 2021 And the trustees who gleefully conspire in old age to gum up the keys of Petrie’s cherished typewriter seem unaltered from the supercilious, eager-to-humiliate childhood chums of long ago. Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2021 Susan remembers Conway, a supercilious jerk, all too well. New York Times, 2 Dec. 2020 This always induces some supercilious snickering among foreigners. Gerard Baker, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2020 See More Word History
Latin superciliosus, from supercilium eyebrow, haughtiness, from super- + -cilium eyelid (akin to celare to hide) — more at hell
1543, in the meaning defined above
supercilious
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- arrogant
- haughty
- cavalier
- bumptious
- superior
- smug
- pretentious
- sniffy
- pompous
- uppity
- assumptive
- presumptuous
- domineering
- imperious
- huffy
- uppish
- high-and-mighty
- important
- chesty
- dominant
- authoritarian
- hifalutin
- presuming
- masterful
- high-handed
- condescending
- peremptory
- patronizing
- highfalutin
- overweening
- impudent
- snobbish
- lordly
- disdainful
- toplofty
- snooty
- proud
- dominating
- self-assertive
- huffish
- lofty
- snobby
- bossy
- pontifical
- conceited
- boastful
- pontificating
- high-hat
- self-asserting
- stiff-necked
- saucy
- vainglorious
- toploftical
- cocky
- impertinent
- egocentric
- blusterous
- narcissistic
- braggart
- magisterial
- hubristic
- swaggering
- bombastic
- vain
- egotistic
- blustery
- egotistical
- complacent
- egoistic
- self-satisfied
- bragging
- prideful
- self-complacent
- egoistical
- self-conceited
- braggy
- stuck-up
- immodest
- self-centered
- uninhibited
- self-flattering
- brash
- extroverted
- self-promoting
- unreserved
- orgulous
- self-loving
- self-applauding
- forward
- self-affected
- self-pleased
- extraverted
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- humble
- modest
- unpretentious
- lowly
- timid
- sheepish
- diffident
- bashful
- shy
- mousy
- passive
- deferential
- subdued
- demure
- introverted
- meek
- unassuming
- unassertive
- shrinking
- submissive
- acquiescent
- unobtrusive
- unarrogant
- unaggressive
- compliant
- cringing
- mousey
- quiet
- self-critical
- self-doubting
- yielding
- cowering
- overmodest
- reserved
- retiring
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of supercilious are arrogant, disdainful, haughty, insolent, lordly, overbearing, and proud. While all these words mean "showing scorn for inferiors," supercilious implies a cool, patronizing haughtiness.
The synonyms arrogant and supercilious are sometimes interchangeable, but arrogant implies a claiming for oneself of more consideration or importance than is warranted.
While in some cases nearly identical to supercilious, disdainful suggests a more active and openly scornful superciliousness.
The words haughty and supercilious can be used in similar contexts, but haughty suggests a consciousness of superior birth or position.
While the synonyms insolent and supercilious are close in meaning, insolent implies contemptuous haughtiness.
Although the words lordly and supercilious have much in common, lordly implies pomposity or an arrogant display of power.
The words overbearing and supercilious are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, overbearing suggests a tyrannical manner or an intolerable insolence.
The meanings of proud and supercilious largely overlap; however, proud may suggest an assumed superiority or loftiness.