Wordwyrt

supercilious

/ˌsuːpəˈsɪliəs/soo-pur-SIH-lee-uhs
/ˌsupɚˈsɪliəs/soo-pur-SIH-lee-uhs

Meaningeyebrow-raising

Common meaning: looking down on others

‘over, above’ + ‘an eyelid’ → supercilious

Journey through time

  1. Latincilium, -ī‘an eyelid’
  2. Englishsupercilious‘looking down on others’ · today

super- also in: supervenesupervisesuperficialsuperfluoussuperintend

cili also in: cilia

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin cilium ‘an eyelid’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry cilium, p. 331 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

cilia

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