supercilious

English

WOTD – 21 March 2007

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin superciliōsus (“haughty”), from supercilium (“eyebrow, arrogance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsjuː.pə(ɹ)ˈsɪ.li.əs/
• IPA^(key): /ˌs(j)uːpɚˈsɪli.əs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪliəs

Adjective

supercilious (comparative more supercilious, superlative most supercilious)

1. Arrogantly superior; showing contemptuous indifference; haughty.
   • 1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter I, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:

     Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.

   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

     Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Derived terms

• superciliously
• superciliousness

Translations

showing contemptuous indifference

• Armenian:

  Old Armenian: հպարտ (hpart), սէգ (sēg)

• Bulgarian: арога́нтен (bg) (arogánten)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 傲慢 (zh) (àomàn), 高傲 (zh) (gāo'ào), 驕傲／骄傲 (zh) (jiāo'ào), 骄傲 (zh) (jiāo'ào)

• Dutch: hooghartig (nl), denigrerend (nl), hautain (nl), verwaand (nl), hoogmoedig (nl), aanmatigend (nl), hoogneuzig, arrogant (nl)
• Finnish: ylenkatseellinen
• French: hautain (fr)
• German: arrogant (de), hochmütig (de), hochnäsig (de), anmaßend (de), herablassend (de)
• Greek: υπεροπτικός (el) (yperoptikós), υπερφίαλος (el) m (yperfíalos)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ido: superba (io)
• Italian: altezzoso (it), sdegnoso (it)
• Latin: superbus (la), superciliōsus
• Norwegian: hovmodig (no)
• Polish: wyniosły (pl)
• Portuguese: supercilioso, altivo (pt), soberbo (pt)
• Russian: надме́нный (ru) (nadménnyj), высокоме́рный (ru) (vysokomérnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: àrdanach
• Spanish: altivo (es)