[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/smug.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / smug

[← S](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/S/)

# smug

«smug» in Mova's school dictionary: **too pleased with yourself and your own cleverness, luck…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (smug, smugger, smuggest)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Smug means too pleased with yourself and your own cleverness, luck or goodness, in a way that annoys other people. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#m1)

2) (of a look or smile) showing that feeling. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories smug describes a character who shows off or looks down on others; the reader usually does not like them. In everyday life children might say «Don't be so smug!» to a winner who boasts. Phrases: a smug smile, smug look, feel smug, smugly.

### examples

- He looked smug after beating everyone at chess. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x1)
- She gave a smug smile when the teacher praised her. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x2)
- Don't be smug; next time you might lose. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x3)
- The cat sat on the warm cushion looking very smug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x4)
- I felt a bit smug that I had remembered my umbrella. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x5)
- The smug rabbit stopped to nap and lost the race to the tortoise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x6)
- He smugly told everyone his score. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/#x7)

### note

Adverb smugly, noun smugness. Comparative smugger, smuggest (double g). Smug is different from proud: being proud of good work is fine; being smug means showing off and looking down on others.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «smug» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/smug/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.