A Topical Dictionary: Search for supercilious

Dictionary Results For "supercilious" [?]/[OPML]

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English

Etymology

From {{term|supercilium||eyebrow, loftiness in demeanour}}.

Pronunciation

IPA: /ˌsuːpəˈsɪliəs/ or
IPA: /ˌsuːpɚˈsɪliəs/
An audio transcript can be found at en-us-supercilious.ogg

Adjective

arrogant|Arrogantly superior; showing contemptuous indifference; haughty.

::"Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner." --F. Scott Fitzgerald, w:The Great Gatsby|The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1

Translations

Dutch: ,
Italian:

fr:supercilious io:supercilious it:supercilious te:supercilious vi:supercilious

GNU Project's publication of CIDE, the Collaborative International Dictionary of English Supercilious \Su`per*cil"i*ous\, a. [L. superciliosus, fr.
supercilium an eyebrow, pride; super over, + cilium an
eyelid; probably akin to celare to conceal. Cf. Conceal.]
Lofty with pride; haughty; dictatorial; overbearing;
arrogant; as, a supercilious officer; asupercilious air;
supercilious behavior. -- Su`per*cil"i*ous*ly, adv. --
Su`per*cil"i*ous*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]

WordNet supercilious
adj 1: having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of
those one views as unworthy; "some economists are
disdainful of their colleagues in other social
disciplines"; "haughty aristocrats"; "his lordly
manners were offensive"; "walked with a prideful
swagger"; "very sniffy about breaches of etiquette";
"his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air";
"shaggy supercilious camels"; "a more swaggering mood
than usual"- W.L.Shirer [syn: disdainful, haughty,
lordly, prideful, sniffy, swaggering]
2: expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious
smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many
a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one" [syn: sneering,
snide]

Moby Dictionary
arrogant , cavalier , clannish , cliquish , condescending ,
contemptuous , contumelious , disdainful , dismissive , exclusive ,
haughty , high and mighty , high-and-mighty , highfalutin ,
hoity-toity , insolent , la-di-da , lofty , lordly , overbearing ,
patronizing , pompous , pretentious , scornful , sneering , sniffy ,
snippy , snobbish , snobby , snooty , snotty , snuffy , stuck-up , stuffy ,
superior , toploftical , toplofty , uppish , uppity , withering