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complacency

UK/kəmˈpleɪsənˌsiː/US/kəmˈpleɪsənˌsiː/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,112 of 15,258neutral

Complacency is smug satisfaction that stops you noticing danger. Guard against complacency, a dangerous complacency, no room for complacency.

It is always a warning, and safety reports name it as a cause more often than incompetence. The difference from contentment is the blindness: complacency is being pleased when you should be watching.

Definitions of complacency

  1. 1nouncomplacencySmug satisfaction that stops you noticing danger.C1

    “After winning so easily, the team's complacency cost them the next match.”

complacency is a satisfaction.

Where it comes from

Latin complacentia means pleasingness, from complacere, to be very pleasing.

  1. Latin

    complacentia

  2. Middle English

    complacence

  3. English, today

    complacency

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

complacency in the wild

  • Early members were Christians in Northern Ireland from diverse backgrounds who wanted to begin a new community which could counter apathy and complacency and open up new possibilities.

    Corrymeela Community

  • Juwara broke away from the United Democratic Party, accusing the party leader Ousainou Darboe of complacency.

    National Democratic Action Movement

  • The advocacy journalism of early activist titles was in stark contrast to the complacency of the country's large media houses.

    Alternative media in South Africa

  • In 2020, Andy Preece stated that the majority of the playing staff suffered a major dose of complacency after the first leg of the semi-final.

    1995–96 Blackpool F.C. season

  • The indicator views sentiment as a continuum with anxiety and complacency representing less extreme and nuanced forms of fear and greed, respectively.

    Acertus Market Sentiment Indicator

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.