superiority complex

[ suh-peer-ee-awr-i-tee kom-pleks, -or-, soo- ]

noun

, Psychology.

1. an exaggerated feeling of superiority to others, characterized by arrogant or overbearing behavior. Compare God complex ( def ), inferiority complex ( def ).

superiority complex

noun

1. informal.
   an inflated estimate of one's own merit, usually manifested in arrogance

Word History and Origins

Origin of superiority complex¹

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

“You do see a lot of the command staff sometimes they might have kind of a superiority complex” when they’re in public, said Wong, president of LEAAP, a nonprofit that represents Asian American law enforcement officers.

From Los Angeles Times

In one scene, Foster’s Stoll accuses Nyad of having “a superiority complex.”

From Los Angeles Times

She had met him several times while covering the Yugoslav wars as a journalist and found him, she said, to be “repulsive” — an unashamed bigot with a “superiority complex” who “could not control his loathing for Muslims,” the largest ethnic group in neighboring Bosnia.

From New York Times

Mr. Metcalfe, who had originally cast Mr. Linville, said he wanted an actor who could play a much more formidable surgeon with a superiority complex.

From New York Times

Rushdie had the most notable superiority complex.

From New York Times