complacency
/kəmˈpleɪ.sən.si/ IELTSAcademic
noun
Complacency is a feeling of quiet satisfaction that can make you stop trying to improve or notice danger. It often suggests too much confidence or a lack of concern.
- After the success, complacency set in.
- We cannot afford complacency in safety matters.
- Her early praise led to complacency.
Adinary Nuance
Complacency is not the same as confidence or satisfaction. Confidence is a healthy belief in your ability, while complacency can make you relax too much and stop paying attention. Writers often use it when they want to warn about hidden risk.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- tự mãn
- Spanish
- complacencia
- Chinese
- 自满
- Japanese
- 自己満足
- Korean
- 자만
Etymology
Complacency came into English from Latin via French. The Latin root means “to please,” and the word later developed its modern sense of over-satisfaction.
Common phrases
complacency sets indangerous complacencya sense of complacency
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is complacency a positive or negative word?
- It is usually negative. It suggests too much comfort and too little caution.
- What is the difference between complacency and confidence?
- Confidence is helpful self-belief. Complacency means becoming too relaxed and not trying enough.
- Can I use complacency in academic writing?
- Yes. It is common in essays, reports, and news writing.