Meaning & use
becoming complacent
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Meaning
phrasefixed phrasedisapproving
starting to feel too satisfied with your situation and no longer trying to improve or be careful
Grammar: The phrase is formed from the verb 'become' + the adjective 'complacent'. It can follow 'be', 'risk', 'avoid', or 'prevent'.
Patterns
- risk becoming complacent
- avoid becoming complacent
- prevent someone from becoming complacent
- without becoming complacent
After winning the first prize, the team risked becoming complacent.
Good managers know how to celebrate success without becoming complacent.
She worried that she was becoming complacent in her job and stopped learning new skills.
Common combinations
- risk becoming complacent
- If we win too easily, we risk becoming complacent.
- avoid becoming complacent
- The coach warned the players to avoid becoming complacent.
- prevent someone from becoming complacent
- Regular feedback helps prevent employees from becoming complacent.
- without becoming complacent
- We can be proud of our progress without becoming complacent.
Synonyms and how they differ
- self-satisfied
- Describes a person who is too pleased with themselves; it focuses on the feeling, not the process of becoming that way.
- smug
- Stronger and more negative than 'complacent'; it suggests annoying superiority.
- unconcerned
- Means not worried, but it does not necessarily imply a lack of effort or improvement.
Opposites
Word family
- complacent adjective
- Feeling too satisfied and not trying hard enough.
- complacency noun
- The state of being complacent.
- complacently adverb
- In a complacent manner.
Commonly confused: becoming complacent or complaisant?
becoming complacent vs complaisant
This rare word means willing to please others; it sounds similar but has a very different meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'becoming complacent' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Becoming complacent' is followed by 'after' or 'because of' to show the cause, or it stands alone. Option 0 uses 'after' correctly. The other options use prepositions that do not fit this phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “becoming complacent”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.