Meaning & use

complacency

noun·Academic

A feeling of quiet satisfaction with one's own achievements that leads to a lack of awareness of danger or need for improvement.

See it in a sentence

Years of success bred complacency among managers who stopped checking the safety equipment.

The coach warned players against complacency after their string of easy victories.

A note on using this word

Complacency is almost always negative, implying dangerous overconfidence, unlike contentment, which can be a healthy state.

Words with a similar meaning

self-satisfactionsmugness

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

vigilancediligence

Make it your own

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