Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use complacency in a sentence

19 example sentences · noun

Complacency means a feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble. Example: “I jolted her out of complacency.”

Examples of complacency by meaning

nounA feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.

  • There was something pathetic in his concentration as if his complacency, more acute than of old, was not enough to him any more.1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 1, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN
  • "However, incidents such as the derailment at Walton-on-Thames clearly show us that there is no room for complacency."2025 March 5, “Network News: RAIB report: rail left on the track derailed train travelling at 85mph”, in RAIL, number 1030, page 13

More sentences with complacency

  • I jolted her out of complacency.From the entry jolt
  • And no complacency for ruinism, a general lack of complacency.2012, Jean-François Lyotard, Herman Parret, Miscellaneous Texts, →ISBN, page 219. From the entry ruinism
  • Nonetheless, it has become evident that to abandon that message now would create complacency among people at risk for HIV infection.1989 December 3, Michael De Mayo, “A New Word In AIDS Prevention: Relapse”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 21, page 16. From the entry relaxation
  • 'In a sort of way I suppose I am an accessory before the fact,' he remarked with some complacency.1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries. From the entry accessory before the fact
  • He wouldn't be able not to smell of the wretched man's blood, morally speaking, too strongly for condonations or complacencies.1901, Henry James, The Papers. From the entry condonations
  • Abel Gooding, the picture of complacency and affected self-immolation.1900, Matilda Betham-Edwards, A Suffolk Courtship, page 58. From the entry armchaired
  • But whoever does the policing, whether a supervisor or an operator, faces a Sisyphean battle against a well-documented phenomenon: something called automation complacency.2022 March 8, Lauren Smiley, “‘I’m the Operator’: The Aftermath of a Self-Driving Tragedy”, in WIRED, archived from the original on 09 Mar…. From the entry sisyphean
  • Automation complacency has been documented in many high-risk situations, from battlefields to industrial control rooms to the bridges of ships and submarines.2014, Nicholas Carr, The Glass Cage […] , Random House, →ISBN. From the entry automation complacency
  • Complacency is the demise of business.2013 March 12, Deborah Sweeney, “15 Lessons I Learned From 15 Years In Business”, in forbes.com, retrieved 08 Aug 2013. From the entry stay hungry
  • There was also a "degree of complacency" that the weather in the country was not good enough to present a health risk.2006, BBC News website, Farmers warned over skin cancer read at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4764525.stm on 14 May 2006. From the entry risk
  • The statesman Draco, faced with public complacency in the face of a crisis in crime, devised a simple method of maintaining order: kill all offenders.1985 December 8, William Safire, “ESSAY; Draco vs. Solon”, in The New York Times. From the entry draco
  • I know—I've heard—but no wealth of the imagination can ever really quite reconstruct Tupworthy, the shoddy magnifico, in his immense porcine complacency, his monumental self-importance.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry magnifico
  • It was evidently essential that a counter-discovery should mitigate the publisher’s complacency, and sustain Lady Honoret’s reputation as a connaisseuse in the literary world.1921, E. M. Delafield [pen name; Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood], The Heel of Achilles, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, page 223. From the entry connaisseuse
  • Mayor Benjie Magalong today threatened to completely lock down Pinget barangay because of the residents’ lack of discipline and complacency in complying with the provisions of Enhanced Community Quarantine.2020 March 21, “Mayor calls out Pinget barangay for being 'pasaway'”, in Baguio City Public Information Office. From the entry Pinget
  • Viewed from this perspective, the Victorian era reeks of a suffocating and bigoted complacency, and, no doubt, many white imperialists existed in a fug of self-righteous superiority.2006, Colin Kidd, The Forging of Races, →ISBN. From the entry fug
  • She programmed her to look at things through a totally different spectrum, and the notion of possibilities instead of complacency and unreasonabilities were taught to her all her life.2004 July, Treasure E. Blue, “The Rules”, in Harlem Girl Lost: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Peaceful Storm Publishing, →ISBN, page 42. From the entry unreasonability
  • In its crisp yet benign complacency Carrados could almost have sworn to resplendent patent boots, the current shade in suede gloves and a carefully selected picotee.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry patent

Meaning of complacency

  1. noun A feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.
  2. noun An instance of self-satisfaction.
  3. noun Passivity as a result of contentment with the current situation.

Full definition of complacency

Questions about complacency in a sentence

How do you use complacency in a sentence?
Complacency is used as a noun. For example: “I jolted her out of complacency.”
What is a short sentence with complacency?
“Complacency is the demise of business.”
What does complacency mean?
Complacency means a feeling of contented self-satisfaction, especially when unaware of upcoming trouble.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: complacency (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use complacency in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/complacency. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.