smug

Meaning

Adj

1. irritatingly pleased with oneself; offensively self-complacent, self-satisfied.
2. Showing smugness; showing self-complacency, self-satisfaction.
3. (obsolete) Studiously neat or nice, especially in dress; spruce; affectedly precise; smooth and prim.

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make smug, or spruce.
2. (intransitive) to adopt an offensively self-complacent expression.
3. (obsolete, slang, transitive) To seize; to confiscate.
4. (obsolete, slang, transitive) To hush up.

Noun

The smuggling trade.

Synonyms

self-satisfied

complacent

conceited

self-complacent

self important

egoistic

hoity toity

holier-than-thou

opinionated

priggish

self complacent

self-conceited

self-important

self-righteous

smarten

snobbish

snooty

steal

stiff

stuck up

stuffy

sure

trim

vain

vainglorious

self-absorbed

overproud

self conceited

self-satisfying

arrest

ladida

bumptious

certain

cocky

confident

Translations

süffisant

suffisant

αυτάρεσκος

selbstgefällig

presunçoso

convencido

selbstzufrieden

compiaciuto

eingebildet

blasiert

schmuck

vaidoso

blasé

راضٍ عَن نَفْسِه

cheio de si

Pronounced as (IPA)

/smʌɡ/

Etymology

Cognate with Low German: -

Cognate with Northern Frisian: smok

Cognate with Danish: smuk

Cognate with Swedish: smukk

Cognate with Middle High German: gesmuc

Cognate with German: schmiegen

In summary

Originally "spruce, neat," from Low German smuk (“pretty”), from Middle Low German smuk (“lithe, delicate, neat, trim”), although the g of the English word is not easily explained. The ultimate source should be Proto-West Germanic *smeugan (“to crawl, creep”).
From the Low German derived also North Frisian smok, Danish smuk and Swedish smukk (now obsolete or dialectal).
Compare also Middle High German gesmuc (“ornament”) and smücken (“to dress, to adorn”), both ultimately from smiegen (“to press to, insert, wrap, to nestle”), hence German schmiegen, Schmuck and schmücken. The adjective schmuck, however, was borrowed from Low German. See smock for more.