smugger; smuggest
1
: highly self-satisfied
2
: trim or smart in dress : spruce
3
: scrupulously clean, neat, or correct : tidy
smugly
adverb
smugness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of smug in a Sentence
Meanwhile, supporters are smug and righteous that the person who manages the world's leading stock exchange deserves every million.
—
Susan Lee, Wall Street Journal, 10 Sept. 2003
Alice Norcross Pratt, a local stay-at-home mom, is portrayed as smug and pious, yet we also see glimmers of her hidden longings.
—Elizabeth Graver, New York Times Book Review, 27 May 2001
Once, Roy dared shooters to beat him with a shot between his legs. Now, he no longer passes out such smug invitations. The goalie who transformed the butterfly technique into an art form has humbly decided to keep his skates a little closer together …
—Mark Kiszla, ESPN, 28 May 2001
She was tall and beautiful and multilingual and fiercely opinionated. One of her opinions held that the rags that passed for literary magazines on campus were so smug and tame and insular that it was hopeless to even try to reform them; they simply needed to be replaced.
—Tom Perrotta, Joe College, 2000
It's OK to celebrate your success, but try not to be too smug about it.
You can wipe that smug look off your face.
Susan Lee, Wall Street Journal, 10 Sept. 2003
Alice Norcross Pratt, a local stay-at-home mom, is portrayed as smug and pious, yet we also see glimmers of her hidden longings.
—Elizabeth Graver, New York Times Book Review, 27 May 2001
Once, Roy dared shooters to beat him with a shot between his legs. Now, he no longer passes out such smug invitations. The goalie who transformed the butterfly technique into an art form has humbly decided to keep his skates a little closer together …
—Mark Kiszla, ESPN, 28 May 2001
She was tall and beautiful and multilingual and fiercely opinionated. One of her opinions held that the rags that passed for literary magazines on campus were so smug and tame and insular that it was hopeless to even try to reform them; they simply needed to be replaced.
—Tom Perrotta, Joe College, 2000
It's OK to celebrate your success, but try not to be too smug about it.
You can wipe that smug look off your face.
Recent Examples on the Web
The season’s final images of the now-President Grace Penn looking smug and Wyler looking panicked signal the power struggle to come.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
Mars took a chilling photo of Carolyn Bryant, a thin, pale brunette with dark lipstick and sharp eyebrows, sitting cross-armed in the gallery, looking smug.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024
But while the 118 is able to save both Celeste and her mother-in-law’s final resting place, a smug Trent trips and drops the vase, an appropriate punchline to a very silly cold open.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2024
The smug conventional wisdom has it that voters don’t care much about abstractions like democracy or the rule of law.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for smug 
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Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
Mars took a chilling photo of Carolyn Bryant, a thin, pale brunette with dark lipstick and sharp eyebrows, sitting cross-armed in the gallery, looking smug.
—Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024
But while the 118 is able to save both Celeste and her mother-in-law’s final resting place, a smug Trent trips and drops the vase, an appropriate punchline to a very silly cold open.
—Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2024
The smug conventional wisdom has it that voters don’t care much about abstractions like democracy or the rule of law.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for smug
Dictionary Entries Near smug
Cite this Entry
“Smug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smug. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
smug
adjective
smugger; smuggest
: highly satisfied with oneself : complacent
smugly
adverb
smugness
noun
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