supercilious
/ˌsu.pɚˈsɪ.li.əs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.94 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "[H]is ſupercilious glances grevv humbled, yea, his dazeling ſplendor (eclipſt in the ſetting [i.e., death] of his Maſter) becomes quickly darkned: […]"
- ""I've tried to be a good man, sir, and do my duty honest, and if it wasn't for the supercilus^([sic]) kind of way in which father carried on last night - a sort of sniffing at me as it were, as though he hadn't no opinion of my references and testimonials - I should feel easy enough in my mind.""
- "Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner."
- "Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin superciliōsus (“haughty”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌsu.pɚˈsɪ.li.əs/
- British English: /ˌsuː.pəˈsɪ.li.əs/
Inflected Forms
more supercilious (comparative)
most supercilious (superlative)