as in vanity
an often unjustified feeling of being pleased with oneself or with one's situation or achievements
the sense of smugness that can come with too many easy victories
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for smugness
Noun
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Fueled by new data and shifting cultural values, injectables are being redefined—not as vanity, but as a personalized pathway to confidence, wellness, and long-term care.—
Corein Carter,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025 -
In a hot pink colorway, the clutch will become your vanity’s newest conversation piece.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
22 May 2025
Noun
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Just observationally, there seemed to be a very high crossover between those of you with the inflated ego to list 16 teams and those of you who thought Dallas was going to lose to Colorado.—
Sean McIndoe,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
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The result is an entirely incoherent crime thriller that features gangsters prattling on about the self and the ego and the soul and then occasionally wandering into an entirely different scene where other gangsters are prattling on about the same thing.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
27 May 2025
Noun
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Uranium enrichment, a source of pride for Iran, is at the heart of a long rift between the two countries.—
Amira El-Fekki,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
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As his tenure there comes to an end next month, Levine can look in the mirror and say with no small measure of pride: Mission accomplished.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
4 June 2025
Noun
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Opinion: America was gaslit by the arrogance of Joe Biden and his enablers.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
25 May 2025
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The arrogance of the IRS should shock the conscience of all Americans.—
Chuck Flint,
Boston Herald,
21 May 2025
Noun
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And if that happens, the politicians’ complacency will hit a wall.—
Clive Crook,
Twin Cities,
29 May 2025
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This approach builds accountability, prevents access complacency and allows early detection of irregularities, all while preserving trust.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
Noun
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Trump himself personifies stupidity’s essential feature — self-satisfaction, an inability to recognize the flaws in your thinking.—
David Brooks,
Mercury News,
16 Apr. 2025
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Just as there’s no dramatic build-up to Maria landing the part, there’s no romance to the process of acting it, nor the slightest whiff of self-satisfaction in recreating iconic scenes.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
21 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Smugness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smugness. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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