Complacency Meaning
/kəmˈpleɪsənˌsiː/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.
nounAn instance of self-satisfaction.
Sentence Examples
His complacency won't make him many friends.
All economic problems would be solved, if they made complacency taxable.
CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ after the first success led to a costly failure in the final round.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager constantly warned the team that unchecked ____ would eventually lead to costly mistakes.
Word Origin & History
Late Middle English complacence, from Late Latin complacentia. Compare French complaisance.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
"[…] 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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CEFR Practice Quiz
His ____ after the first success led to a costly failure in the final round.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager constantly warned the team that unchecked ____ would eventually lead to costly mistakes.