Supercilious Definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SUPERCIL'IOUS, a. [L. superciliosus. See above.]
1. Lofty with pride; haughty; dictatorial; overbearing; as a supercilious officer.
2. Manifesting haughtiness, or proceeding from it; overbearing; as a supercilious air; supercilious behavior.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; "some economists are disdainful of their colleagues in other social disciplines"; "haughty aristocrats"; "his lordly manners were offensive"; "walked with a prideful swagger"; "very sniffy about breaches of etiquette"; "his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air"; "a more swaggering mood than usual"- W.L.Shirer [syn: disdainful, haughty, imperious, lordly, overbearing, prideful, sniffy, supercilious, swaggering]
2: expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one" [syn: supercilious, sneering, snide]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin superciliosus, from supercilium eyebrow, haughtiness, from super- + -cilium eyelid (akin to celare to hide) — more at hell Date: 1614 coolly and patronizingly haughty <reacted to their breach of etiquette with a supercilious smile> Synonyms: see proud • superciliously adverb • superciliousness noun

English Explanatory Dictionary

n. a taxonomic category between class and phylum.

English Explanatory Dictionary

n. a taxonomic category between class and phylum.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. assuming an air of contemptuous indifference or superiority. Derivatives: superciliously adv. superciliousness n. Etymology: L superciliosus (as SUPERCILIARY)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Supercilious Su`per*cil"i*ous, a. [L. superciliosus, fr. supercilium an eyebrow, pride; super over, + cilium an eyelid; probably akin to celare to conceal. Cf. Conceal.] Lofty with pride; haughty; dictatorial; overbearing; arrogant; as, a supercilious officer; asupercilious air; supercilious behavior. -- Su`per*cil"i*ous*ly, adv. -- Su`per*cil"i*ous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you say that someone is supercilious, you disapprove of them because they behave in a way that shows they think they are better than other people. His manner is supercilious and arrogant... = disdainful ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Haughty, overbearing, domineering, dictatorial, arrogant, proud, high, lofty, overweening, consequential, lordly, intolerant, insolent, vainglorious, magisterial, imperious, high and mighty. 2. Haughty, disdainful, contemptuous, proud, arrogant, lordly, consequential, scornful.

Moby Thesaurus

arrogant, cavalier, clannish, cliquish, condescending, contemptuous, contumelious, disdainful, dismissive, exclusive, haughty, high and mighty, high-and-mighty, highfalutin, hoity-toity, insolent, la-di-da, lofty, lordly, overbearing, patronizing, pompous, pretentious, scornful, sneering, sniffy, snippy, snobbish, snobby, snooty, snotty, snuffy, stuck-up, stuffy, superior, toploftical, toplofty, uppish, uppity, withering