Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state or character of being smug; neatness; spruceness;. self-satisfaction; conceited smartness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being smug.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The state or quality of being smug.
  • noun countable The result or product of being smug.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an excessive feeling of self-satisfaction

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From smug +‎ -ness

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Examples

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  • "Looking back at Star Trek, more than four decades after Roddenberry's vision entered our homes, what's remarkable is how much it captured a still extant American optimism and an American cultural smugness. The optimism today has been muted, but the smugness -- not so much. After all, official American 'expeditionary forces' continue to travel the 'final frontiers' of our own planet, if not the galaxy, armed to the teeth with our own versions of phasers and photon torpedoes. At the same time, most of us continue to see ourselves as a peace-loving, Federation-like crew, a force for progress, for international cooperation, and above all for good."

    - William Astore, Aboard the Imperial Star Ship Ameriprise, tomdispatch.com, 26 March 2009.

    March 27, 2009