supercilious
pronunciation
How to pronounce supercilious in British English:
UK [ˌsu:pəˈsɪliəs]
How to pronounce supercilious in American English:
US [ˌsupərˈsɪliəs]
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- Adjective:
- having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
- expressive of contempt
Word Origin
- supercilious
- supercilious: [16] The etymological notion underlying supercilious is of raising the ‘eyebrows’ as a sign of haughty disdain. It comes from Latin superciliōsus, a derivative of supercilium ‘eyebrow’, hence ‘haughtiness’. This was a compound noun formed from the prefix super- ‘above’ and cilium ‘eyelid’ (source of the English biological term cilium ‘hair-like process’ [18], whose meaning evolved via an intermediate ‘eyelash’).
- supercilious (adj.)
- 1520s, "lofty with pride, haughtily contemptuous," from Latin superciliosus "haughty, arrogant," from supercilium "haughty demeanor, pride," literally "eyebrow" (via notion of raising the eyebrow to express haughtiness), from super "above" (see super-) + second element akin to cilium "eyelid," related to celare "to cover, hide," from PIE root *kel- (2) "to conceal" (see cell). Since cilium is more recent than supercilium, the former can be interpreted as a back-formation to the latter .... If indeed derived from the root *kel- 'to hide', we must still assume that a noun *kilium 'eyelid' existed, since the eyelid can 'hide' the eye, whereas the eyebrow does not have such a function. Thus, supercilium may originally have meant 'what is above the cilium'. [Michiel de Vaan, "Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages," Leiden, 2008] Related: Superciliously; superciliousness.
Example
- 1. His mother eyed me in silence with a supercilious air .
- 2. She retained her slightly hurt and supercilious air .
- 3. I resent your supercilious and arrogant attitude .
- 4. While you are supercilious look wolf , I can put your heart in mind !
- 5. He adopted a supercilious manner .