# smug

> English word · Adjective · IPA /smʌɡ/ · frequency rank #19,467

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

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-su)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sum)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sue)
- **SUV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-suv)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sup)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-stu)
- **Sus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sus)
- **Sui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sui)
- **suh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-suh)
- **Sul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sul)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sou)
- **sud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sud)
- **SVG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-svg)
- **song** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-song)
- **soul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-soul)
- **soup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-soup)
- **sung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sung)
- **sour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smug-vs-sour)

## Common misspellings (6)
`msug`, `smgu`, `smmug`, `smugg`, `ssmug`, `sumg`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/smug