supercilious

Advancedzipf 1.94

Pronunciation

/ˌsuːpəˈsɪliəs/(soo-puh-SIL-ee-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

目中无人的；傲慢的

Definition

Behaving as though one thinks one is superior to others.

Word family

  • superciliously/ˌsuːpəˈsɪliəsli/(adv)傲慢地
  • superciliousness/ˌsuːpəˈsɪliəsnəs/(n)傲慢

Collocations

  • supercilious manner
  • supercilious smile
  • supercilious tone
  • supercilious attitude

Examples

  1. 1.The supercilious waiter looked down at us for ordering the cheapest wine. (condescending)
  2. 2.Her supercilious smile suggested she found our concerns trivial. (arrogantly superior)

Synonyms

  • arrogant/ˈærəɡənt/— overly proud
  • condescending/ˌkɒndɪˈsɛndɪŋ/— patronizingly superior
  • haughty/ˈhɔːti/— disdainfully proud

Etymology

from Latin "supercilium" = eyebrow — super- (above) + cilium (eyelid) — raising an eyebrow in contempt