complacency

American  

[kuhm-pley-suhn-see] / kəmˈpleɪ sən si /

Also complacence

noun

• complacencies
  plural

1. a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.

2. Archaic.

   1. friendly civility; inclination to please; complaisance.

   2. a civil act.

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complacency British  

/ kəmˈpleɪsənsɪ /

noun

1. a feeling of satisfaction, esp extreme self-satisfaction; smugness

2. an obsolete word for complaisance

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncomplacence
  noun
• noncomplacency
  noun
• overcomplacence
  noun
• overcomplacency
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• complacencies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of complacency

From the Medieval Latin word complacentia, dating back to 1635–45. See complacent, -cy

Explanation

The word complacency is often hurled, in a rather scornful manner, at people who are unwilling to be political. It connotes a sense of ease and contentment with the status quo. It is a rare thing to hear the word complacency used in a purely positive way; there's always a sense of scolding to it. At best it's used to convey a person's satisfaction: "Oh? No one asked you to the prom? I've been asked three times," she said with complacency. More commonly, however, it takes on a political tone, as with large bodies of people who are unwilling to protest corruption because it doesn't touch them: "He preached and argued, but it was impossible to jostle the students from their complacency."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

complacency complacencies

But Grande does perpetuate a silence, complacency, and enabling by painting genuine concern as gossipy chatter.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

But Timothy Ravasi, a local marine scientist, warned against complacency.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

England, under the fiercely driven Tuchel, are highly unlikely to have their World Cup aspirations undermined by complacency.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

BIS notes that “sentiment has also been a major driver of valuations” and a “post-pandemic exuberance” has generated an air of complacency among investors.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

She felt that Jane’s feelings, though fervent, were little displayed, and that there was a constant complacency in her air and manner not often united with great sensibility.

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

The rudder in her work, and in her thinking, is this aversion to, and constant vigilance against, easy complacencies and groupthink.

From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2018

“Our contexts are not the same, our struggles are not the same, and so our rebellions and complacencies and conformities and compromises cannot be compared.”

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 6, 2017

The financial crisis taught us that long-held assumptions and complacencies can and will fall apart in a subprime minute.

From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 27, 2012

George Eliot, who tried to learn comedy from Dickens but didn't quite have the ear for it, is forever shaking us out of our complacencies.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2010

They fell to talking of their father; drifted to Anne and Anne's limitations and complacencies.

From Sisters by Kathleen Thompson Norris