Arrogant Meaning: When Self-Belief Turns Into Looking Down

Arrogant meaning and arrogance definition

To define arrogant, think of two parts that come together:

1. An inflated view of yourself. Believing your skills, taste or judgment are far above everyone else's.
2. Showing it in how you treat people. Interrupting, mocking, ignoring advice, expecting special treatment.

The definition of arrogance follows from that: it is the attitude or behavior of someone who overrates themselves and looks down on others. A person can be very talented and still arrogant. The problem is not the talent but the contempt that comes with it.

Arrogant in everyday sentences

• The new manager seemed arrogant at first, but he was just nervous and blunt.
• It was arrogant of me to assume nobody else had thought of that idea.
• Her arrogance cost the team a client who felt talked down to in every meeting.
• He arrogantly waved away the safety report without reading it.
• Winning three tournaments in a row made the young player a little arrogant.

Confident or arrogant: where is the line?

People often worry that being confident will look arrogant. The difference is mostly about other people.

A confident person says, "I can do this." An arrogant person adds, without saying it, "and you can't."

Close words and the opposite

• Conceited: too proud of yourself, focused on your own looks or achievements. Similar, but arrogant puts more weight on how you treat others.
• Haughty: coldly proud, with a sense of high rank.
• Condescending: speaking to people as if they are less able to understand.
• Pretentious: trying to seem more important or cultured than you are. A pretentious person may be insecure, while an arrogant one usually is sure of their superiority.
• Hubris: extreme pride that leads to a downfall, a word with roots in Greek tragedy.

The opposite of arrogant is humble or modest. The quality is humility: an honest view of yourself that leaves room for other people.

From a Latin word for claiming

Arrogant came into English through French from the Latin arrogans, a form of arrogare, "to claim for oneself." That verb joins ad, "to," and rogare, "to ask." The idea is of someone who claims respect, rights or credit that they have not earned. The related verb arrogate still means to take something without the right to it, as in "he arrogated the decision to himself."

Using the word fairly

Grammatically, arrogant works before a noun (an arrogant reply) or after a verb (she sounded arrogant). Useful patterns include it was arrogant of you to, come across as arrogant and a touch of arrogance.

Because it judges character, use it carefully at work. Describing behavior is often kinder and more useful than labeling a person: "You dismissed my point before I finished" lands better than "You're arrogant." Words like ego and pride, gathered with other character words on the people and feelings page, can help you describe the shades of self-regard more precisely.