different between complacency vs complacent

English

Alternative forms

• complacence

Etymology

Late Latin complacentia: compare French complaisance.

Noun

complacency (countable and uncountable, plural complacencies)

1. A feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 5:

     ... looking at Mr. George Osborne's pale interesting countenance, and those beautiful black, curling, shining whiskers, which the young gentleman himself regarded with no ordinary complacency, she thought in her little heart that in His Majesty's army, or in the wide world, there never was such a face or such a hero.

   • There was something pathetic in his concentration as if his complacency, more acute than of old, was not enough to him any more. When, almost immediately, the telephone rang inside and the butler left the porch Daisy seized upon the momentary interruption and leaned toward me.

   • Others proclaim the infirmities of a great man with satisfaction and complacency, if they discover none of the like in themselves.

2. An instance of self-satisfaction.

Related terms

• complacent
• self-complacency

Translations

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin complac?ns (“very pleasing”), present participle of complac?re (“to please at the same time, be very pleasing”), from com- (“together”) + plac?re (“to please”); see please and compare complaisant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?m?ple?s?nt/
• Homophone: complaisant

Adjective

complacent (comparative more complacent, superlative most complacent)

1. Uncritically satisfied with oneself or one's achievements; smug.
2. Apathetic with regard to an apparent need or problem.

Usage notes

• Complacent should not be confused with its homophone, complaisant.

Synonyms

• smug
• self-satisfied

Derived terms

• complacently
• self-complacent

Related terms

• complacence
• complacency

Translations

Further reading

• complacent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• complacent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Latin

Verb

complacent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of complace?