Word
complacent
Meanings
Too pleased with your own achievements or current situation, leading to a lack of effort or vigilance.
Unwilling to change or improve because you assume everything is fine.
Definition
Too satisfied with yourself or a situation, so you stop trying to improve or notice problems.
If someone is complacent, they feel comfortable and confident, often too much so. This attitude can make them less alert to risks or less willing to make changes. It is usually used critically to suggest a lack of effort or awareness.
Examples
- After several easy wins, I became complacent and stopped reviewing my performance data.
- If you get complacent about cybersecurity, you can miss small signs of a serious breach.
- He sounded complacent in the interview, as if the promotion were already guaranteed.
- She worried that the team was growing complacent and ignoring customer complaints.
- They became complacent once the first prototype worked, and the final testing suffered.
Common mistake
Learners often confuse "complacent" with "complaisant" (meaning willing to please), but "complacent" means overly satisfied and not alert.
More at C1 level
- ubiquitous Present, appearing, or found everywhere at the same time.
- xenophobia Xenophobia is a strong dislike or fear of people from other countries or cultures.
- genocide Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular group in order to …
- conundrum A conundrum is a confusing and difficult problem to solve.
- pretentious Trying to seem more important, intelligent, or cultured than you really are.
More adjectives
- agnostic An agnostic is someone who does not claim to know whether God exists.
- pragmatic Pragmatic means focused on practical results rather than ideals or theories.
- ubiquitous Present, appearing, or found everywhere at the same time.
- cynical Cynical describes believing that people are mainly motivated by self-interest and not sincere.
- apathetic Apathetic means showing little or no interest, concern, or enthusiasm.