Supercilious
[suːpə'sɪlɪəs;sjuː-] or [,supɚ'sɪlɪəs]
Definition
(adj.) 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' .
Edited by Debra--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Lofty with pride; haughty; dictatorial; overbearing; arrogant; as, a supercilious officer; asupercilious air; supercilious behavior.
Checked by Calvin
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Haughty, disdainful, contemptuous, overbearing, domineering, dictatorial, arrogant, proud, high, lofty, overweening, consequential, lordly, intolerant.
Checker: Melva
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Haughty, contemptuous, disdainful, arrogant, i_solent
ANT:Affable, courteous, respectful, modest, bashful
Typed by Elbert
Definition
adj. lofty with pride: disdainful: dictatorial: overbearing.—adj. Supercil′iary above the eyebrow.—adv. Supercil′iously.—n. Supercil′iousness.
Editor: Vanessa
Examples
- A distant supercilious air makes a cold atmosphere about her, and there is nothing in her bearing, as there was before, to encourage openness. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- With a most supercilious kind of glance, Hum, drawled out Murray, you've not the slightest chance. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Ah,' said the red-haired man, surveying Mr. Weller from head to foot with a supercilious look. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I can be very cool and very supercilious with Henry, he said. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- George's valet was looking on in a very supercilious manner at Mr. Clapp in his shirt-sleeves, watering his rose-bushes. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- You are the real devil who won't let life exiSt.' She looked at him with a long, slow look, malevolent, supercilious. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- For, though elated by his rank, it did not render him supercilious; on the contrary, he was all attention to everybody. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
Editor: Vanessa