What does "smug" mean?
Smug: Studiously neat or nice, especially in dress; spruce; affectedly precise; smooth and prim. They be so smug and smooth. Robynson (More's Utopia). The smug and scanty draperies of his style. De Quincey. A young, smug, handsome holiness has no fellow. Beau & Fl.
Additional senses
- 2.To make smug, or spruce. [Obs.] Thus said, he smugged his beard, and stroked up fair. Dryton.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00