self-satisfiedadj.n.
/ˌsɛlfˈsatᵻsfʌɪd/, U.S. /ˌsɛlfˈsædəsˌfaɪd/ A. adj.
Satisfied with oneself or one's achievements, esp. excessively or offensively; smug, complacent. Also of a smile, mood, etc.: characterized by self-satisfaction; exhibiting excessive satisfaction with oneself.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > contentment or satisfaction > self-satisfaction > [adjective]
smug1551
fat1598
self-contented1631
self-pleased1633
self-satisfied1653
self-contenta1656
self-complacent1736
self-gratulating1755
complacent1767
well1773
self-congratulatory1798
comfortable1856
paddy1865
Podsnappian1866
cosy1927
the mind > emotion > pride > self-esteem > complacency > [adjective]
fat1598
self-contented1631
self-pleased1633
self-satisfied1653
self-contenta1656
complacing1669
self-complacentiala1711
self-complacinga1711
self-complacent1736
complacent1767
pinguid1768
unctuous1822
paddy1865
1653 R. Fairclough in S. Fairclough Suffolks Tears 21 But see The goodly Off-spring of thy Blood, and be Self-satisfi'd.
1670 J. Davies tr. P. Scarron Unexpected Choice 61 Prospero,..extreamly self-satisfy'd with the discovery he had made of his resentments to Hippolito.
1734 A. Pope Ess. Man: Epist. IV 40 No Bandit fierce, no Tyrant mad with pride, No cavern'd Hermit, rest self-satisfy'd.
1797 W. Godwin Enquirer i. ii. 8 A self-satisfied, half-witted fellow, is the most ridiculous of all things.
1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward I. ix. 223 Hurried away, as the most cautious sometimes are, by the self-satisfied humour of the moment.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxv. 88 The self-satisfied smirk of flash Toby Crackit.
1929 St. J. Ervine First Mrs. Fraser ii. 49 Janet. But, Ninian dear, you shouldn't have said anything. Ninian. He was looking so smarmy and self-satisfied that I had to.
1979 T. Belmonte Broken Fountain v. 72 She regards her assembled brood with a self-satisfied smile. She is pompous and self-congratulatory.
2005 Time Out N.Y. 24 Mar. 61/2 He can't help coming across as a smug, self-satisfied git.
B. n.
With the and plural agreement. Self-satisfied people collectively.
ΚΠ
1818 Examiner 15 Mar. 162/2 The kind of scornful insight it gives them into the common-place pretensions and virtues of the flourishing or self-satisfied.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda III. iv. xxxvi. 74 One must care for them more than for the comfortably self-satisfied.
1905 Christian Sci. Jrnl. May 82 The self-satisfied would have taken their places beside him. The grateful Mary was happy to stand behind him.
1978 Pearls Wisdom 16 Apr. 78 The self-satisfied are never introspective.
2006 K. Marton Great Escape 226 The complacent and the self-satisfied are not the ones who ask the hard questions or push for change.
Derivatives
self-ˈsatisfiedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > contentment or satisfaction > self-satisfaction > [adverb]
self-complacently1772
complacently1815
self-contentedly1840
self-satisfiedly1842
comfortably1872
smugly1892
1842 Leicester Chron. 16 July The Judge who talks so self-satisfiedly to him of his unredeemed wickedness.
1984 Washington Post 13 Oct. f4/5 ‘It's like with kids. If they see panic in their parents' eyes, they'll start to go crazy.’ Gossage smiled self-satisfiedly. ‘There's no panic here.’
2009 Oxf. Times (Nexis) 31 Dec. The allusions are often so dense and self-satisfiedly cerebral that they tend to invite polite admiration rather than wholehearted enthusiasm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1653