Complacency: meaning, example and synonyms
Complacencyn. Smug, uncritical satisfaction with one's situation that ignores possible dangers.
Example
After a decade without serious floods, the town's complacency led officials to defer levee repairs, despite engineering reports that warned against the delay.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Synonyms
- smugness, self-satisfaction, overconfidence, unconcern
- Antonyms
- vigilance, concern, alertness, diligence
- Memory tip
- Complacent people are too PLEASED (Latin placere) to notice danger.
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Check yourself: Complacency in context
Having dominated the market for decades, the company slipped into ______, ignoring early signs that smaller rivals were developing cheaper, more efficient products.
Answer: complacency. A leader so satisfied with its success that it ignores rising threats shows complacency. Synthesis (combining parts into a whole), terseness (curt brevity) and anomaly (a deviation from the norm) don't fit.
Public health officials warned that ______ posed the greatest threat once infection rates fell, since residents who felt safe were likely to abandon the precautions that had protected them.
Answer: complacency. Feeling safe and dropping precautions is uncritical self-satisfaction: complacency. Synthesis (combining parts into a whole), attrition (gradual wearing down) and terseness (curt brevity) don't fit.