complacent
smugly satisfied and unaware of potential dangers
Word origin: From Latin complacere, to please greatly (com- intensive plus placere to please).
Complacent in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing complacent in a sentence.
Years of easy profits had made the company dangerously complacent.
Years of easy profits left the firm complacent and unprepared for the downturn.
Using “complacent” well
Complacent means smugly self-satisfied and blind to lurking dangers. Do not confuse it with complaisant, a look-alike meaning eager to please.
More GRE words starting with C
a small secret group plotting against a government or authority
having a hidden or mysterious meaning understood only by initiates
a harsh, jarring mixture of sounds
to obtain something by begging or sponging off others
falling off or shed at an early stage, especially of plant parts
to coax someone into doing something through flattery or persuasion
an event causing great damage, loss, or distress
misty, dim, or dark, and therefore obscure
Questions about “complacent”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.