smugly

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English smug

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Proto-West Germanic *-līkē

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English smugly

From smug + -ly.

Adverb

smugly (comparative more smugly, superlative most smugly)

1. In a self-satisfied manner.

   He was smirking smugly at us.