Wordwyrt

complacent

/kəmpˈleɪsənt/kuhm-PLAY-suhnt
/kəmpˈleɪsənt/kuhm-PLAY-suhnt

Meaningpleased with oneself

Common meaning: smugly satisfied

‘with, together’ + ‘to please’ → complacent

Journey through time

  1. Latinplaceō, placuī‘to please’
  2. Englishcomplacent‘smugly satisfied’ · today

com- also in: compelcombustcomfortcommandcommend

plac also in: placidpleasepleasantimplacable

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin placeō ‘to please’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry placeō, p. 1382 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

implacableplacidpleasantplease

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app