Meanings
comparative more complacent · superlative most complacent
- Uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements; smug.
He grew complacent as the years rolled on and the money rolled in.
1 more example
England will feel confident but not complacent against Ukraine, and the shock exit of France to Switzerland shows no-one can be taken lightly.
2021 June 29, Phil McNulty, “England 2-0 Germany”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecontented to a fault with oneself or one's actions
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincomplacēns“very pleasing”
- Englishcomplacent
Borrowed from Latin complacēns (“very pleasing”), present participle of complacēre (“to please at the same time, be very pleasing”), from com- (“together”) + placēre (“to please”); see please and compare complaisant.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan complaent
- complaentuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Chinese Mandarin 得意, 自滿 /自满
- 得意 (déyì)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- 自滿 /自满 (zìmǎn)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Czech samolibý, sám se sebou spokojený
- samolibýuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- sám se sebou spokojenýuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- lhostejnýunworried about an apparent problem
Dutch zelfgenoegzaam, makkelijk
- zelfgenoegzaamuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- makkelijkuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- zelftevredenuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- zelfingenomenuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Esperanto memkontenta
- memkontentauncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Finnish itsetyytyväinen, omahyväinen
- itsetyytyväinenuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- omahyväinenuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
French suffisant
- suffisantuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
German selbstgefällig, selbstzufrieden
- selbstgefälliguncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- selbstzufriedenuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Greek αυτάρεσκος
- αυτάρεσκος (aftáreskos)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Hungarian önelégült, öntelt
- önelégültuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- önteltuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Japanese 独り善がり
- 独り善がり (hitori-yogari)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Māori kiriora
- kiriorauncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Norwegian Bokmål selvtilfreds
- selvtilfredsuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Polish zadowolony z siebie, obojętny
- zadowolony z siebieuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- obojętnyunworried about an apparent problem
Portuguese complacente
- complacenteuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Russian самодово́льный
- самодово́льный (samodovólʹnyj)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Scottish Gaelic somalta
- somaltauncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Spanish autocomplaciente, contentadizo
- autocomplacienteuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- contentadizouncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- demasiado satisfechouncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Swedish självbelåten, självgod
- självbelåtenuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- självgoduncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- egenkäruncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Tagalog kampante
- kampanteuncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Ukrainian самозадово́лений, самовдово́лений
- самозадово́лений (samozadovólenyj)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
- самовдово́лений (samovdovólenyj)uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
complacent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complacent
“complacent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complacent. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “complacent,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complacent.
Source: complacent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.