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| adj. 1. Having or displaying excessive pride in oneself or an excessive sense of self-importance. 2. Marked by or arising from a feeling or assumption of one's superiority over others: an arrogant contempt for the weak. [Middle English arrogaunt, from Old French, from Latin arrogāns, arrogant-, present participle of arrogāre, to arrogate; see ARROGATE.] arro·gant·ly adv. Synonyms: arrogant, haughty, disdainful, supercilious These adjectives mean characterized by an inflated ego and disdain for what one considers inferior. One who is arrogant is overbearingly proud and demands excessive power or consideration: an arrogant and pompous professor, unpopular with students and colleagues alike. Haughty suggests superiority, as by reason of high status: “Her laugh was satirical, and so was the habitual expression of her arched and haughty lip” (Charlotte Brontë). Disdainful emphasizes scorn or contempt: “Nor [let] grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, / The short and simple annals of the poor” (Thomas Gray). Supercilious implies haughty disdain and aloofness: “Failure would confirm the critics who called him supercilious for following his own methods and not theirs” (Neal Bascomb). |
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