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Synonyms

self-satisfied

American  
[self-sat-is-fahyd, self-] / ˈsɛlfˈsæt ɪsˌfaɪd, ˌsɛlf- /

adjective

  1. feeling or showing satisfaction with oneself.

    Synonyms:
    puffed-up, vain, smug, complacent
self-satisfied British  

adjective

  1. having or showing a complacent satisfaction with oneself, one's own actions, behaviour, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of self-satisfied

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The solid, stolid, self-satisfied Edwardian England that had seemed so deserving of his lashes was itself now wounded, and something in Galsworthy shifted accordingly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Several of the figures rest a self-satisfied hand at the apex of their bump.

From Slate • Jul. 21, 2025

I see an accomplished power player in midlife at the peak of a highly successful TV writing career, self-satisfied and oozing with agency.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2024

He’s calm, even a little self-satisfied, as he invites someone to “Feel it all around you/Crash and fall.”

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2024

Everyone who lived here said those things: provincial, self-satisfied, boring.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.