Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Contented self-satisfaction.
- noun Total lack of concern.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Disposition to please, or an act intended to give pleasure; friendly civility, or a civil act. See
complaisance (now generally used in this sense). - noun A feeling of quiet pleasure; satisfaction; gratification; especially, self-satisfaction.
- noun That which gives satisfaction; a cause of pleasure or joy; a comfort.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Calm contentment; satisfaction; gratification.
- noun The cause of pleasure or joy.
- noun The manifestation of contentment or satisfaction; good nature; kindness; civility; affability.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun archaic Being
complacent ; a feeling ofcontentment orsatisfaction ;complacency . - noun obsolete
Pleasure ,delight . - noun obsolete
Complaisance ; a willingness to comply with others' wishes.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word complacence.
Examples
-
Jones clearly felt that certain teams -- such as the Bengals, Bills, and Jaguars -- were not sufficiently aggressive in pursuing local revenues and that their complacence should not be rewarded with equal shares of national revenues.
Andrew Brandt: Teal Transfer Andrew Brandt 2011
-
Words are slaves, noetic myrmidons laboring to interdigitate bolides of inspiration with cosmeticized complacence.
-
In this case, however, community complacence hasn't really panned out for Valley Vista.
Sam McPheeters: Trashing East L.A. County Sam McPheeters 2011
-
You are not adjusting your life artistically; there is too much strain, too little warmth, too much self-complacence.
-
Mostly, we act with simple complacence in the midst of the cruelties to women's gender.
Jake Diliberto: International Woman's Day: From Then to Now Who Is the 21st Century American Woman? Jake Diliberto 2011
-
In this case, however, community complacence hasn't really panned out for Valley Vista.
Sam McPheeters: Trashing East L.A. County Sam McPheeters 2011
-
Later, irritated by his self-satisfied complacence and after listening to a recital of how he had cornered the Klamath salmon – packing, planted the first oysters on the bay and established that lucrative monopoly, and of how, after exhausting litigation and a campaign of years he had captured the water front of Williamsport and thereby won to control of the Lumber Combine, she returned to the charge.
-
In her voice and complacence she, too, showed the drill-marks of order and restraint.
-
If we're doing well, our over-confidence can devolve into complacence, thinking that our future will continue on the same trajectory as our past.
Ron Ashkenas: When the Invincible Become "Vincible" Ron Ashkenas 2011
-
Martin grinned and accepted the invitation, marvelling the while at his complacence.
Chapter 43 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.