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
Examples of supercilious in a Sentence
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
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
Advertisement The supercilious elder sisters preened.
—Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2024
After appearing as supercilious EPA company man Walter Peck in Ghostbusters, Atherton completed his trilogy of goofy comedies with Real Genius (1985) and Bio-Dome (1996).
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 28 Sep. 2023
Once the Duke of Wellington shows up at Waterloo, the fact that he’s played with such supercilious glee by the perpetually sneering Rupert Everett comes as a welcome relief.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
Dictionary Entries Near supercilious
Cite this Entry
“Supercilious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supercilious. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
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supercilious
adjective
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