complacency

CEFRB2

/kəmˈpleɪsənˌsiː/

noun

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

Examples

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

Passivity as a result of contentment with the current situation.
A feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.

In context

Others proclaim the infirmities of a great man with satisfaction and complacency, if they discover none of the like in themselves.
"However, incidents such as the derailment at Walton-on-Thames clearly show us that there is no room for complacency."

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The word in print, with each source given in full.

Others proclaim the infirmities of a great man with satisfaction and complacency, if they discover none of the like in themselves.
1712 January 3 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SUNDAY, December 24, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 256; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor,...
[…] 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.
1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 5, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
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.
1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 1, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, →OCLC
"However, incidents such as the derailment at Walton-on-Thames clearly show us that there is no room for complacency."
2025 March 5, “Network News: RAIB report: rail left on the track derailed train travelling at 85mph”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 13

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Late Middle English complacence, from Late Latin complacentia. Compare French complaisance.