What does smugness mean?
Smugness is the quality of being smug: self-satisfied, complacent, and often convinced of one's own superiority. It commonly appears in descriptions of a person's tone, expression, attitude, or manner. A speaker may betray smugness by emphasizing a personal achievement, correcting others with evident satisfaction, or treating an advantage as proof of broader superiority. The word can describe anything from a slight air of conceit to an offensive, insufferable display of self-regard. Unlike simple satisfaction with a success, smugness suggests that the satisfaction depends on comparison with other people or a belief in one's own elevated status. For that reason, writers usually use it critically rather than approvingly. Smugness is especially useful when discussing interpersonal behavior, public speaking, satire, and fictional characterization, because it identifies not merely a feeling of pleasure but a self-conscious and self-enhancing attitude toward others.
nounThe state or quality of being smug, especially the self-satisfied or complacent attitude of someone who believes their own success, knowledge, or superiority makes them better than others.
- The state or quality of being smug; self-satisfied complacency.
"She delivered the correction with such smugness that nobody wanted to agree with her."
"There was a note of smugness in his voice whenever he mentioned his prize."
"Her account of the journey was vivid but marred by smugness toward travelers who had chosen a different route."
The regular plural is possible but uncommon; smugness is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The essay examines the different smugnesses of the play's rival characters."
Smugness is what turns knowing the answer into enjoying that everyone else had to ask.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does smugness come from?
Smugness was formed in English by adding the productive suffix -ness to the adjective smug. The adjective smug is recorded from the early 17th century, but its deeper origin is uncertain, so it should not confidently be treated as a derivative of smuggle. Because the ancestry of smug itself is unclear, secure foreign-language cognates cannot be asserted.
How smugness is actually used
The noun is usually uncountable and carries a mildly to strongly negative connotation. It describes an attitude, manner, or quality rather than a specific action.