What's the difference between presumptuous and supercilious?

Presumptuous


Definition:

  • (a.) Full of presumption; presuming; overconfident or venturesome; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent; as, a presumptuous commander; presumptuous conduct.
  • (a.) Founded on presumption; as, a presumptuous idea.
  • (a.) Done with hold design, rash confidence, or in violation of known duty; willful.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Parent involvement is needed, and it is presumptuous to believe that a couple of hours of contact a week can change lives.
  • (2) Even as I read Tynan’s book at 16, I knew theatre was radically changing: I remember presumptuously giving a talk to the sixth form at Warwick School on the new phenomenon of The Angry Young Man.
  • (3) In such a context, it would be quite presumptuous to ascertain the therapeutic efficacy of a drug from those initial human studies.
  • (4) Infantile delivery also frequently serves to take the curse off self-publicity; sleight of hand for those who find "my programme is on BBC2 tonight" too presumptuous and exposing, and prefer to cower behind the low-status imbecility of "I done rote a fingy for da tellybox!"
  • (5) If I may be so presumptuously bold, Martyn Hett’s brother contains more Britishness in his typing thumb than Ms Hopkins contains in her entire output.
  • (6) I am not so presumptuous as to ask instantly for your vote, but in the recent election 700,000 of you stuck with us, but many of you chose someone else.
  • (7) "Humour me with a rare bit of Confederations Cup kit-chat, but am I the only one who finds the ribbon-like collar on the Spain shirt, inferring yet another winner's medal dangling around the neck, to be a bit presumptuous?"
  • (8) That email contained a reminder about their understanding when the event was first arranged: In the absence of hearing from you we have proceeded on the basis you are happy to go ahead even though the commission is still in hearing (not expected when originally arranged) and thought it presumptuous to do other than leave that up to you.
  • (9) May he rest in peace – and, if it’s not presumptuous, my love to you.
  • (10) I mean, in some ways – this seems a little presumptuous and it's not entirely accurate – but actors and CIA agents are [both] migratory and assume different roles.
  • (11) 'Journalism is not a job; it is a way of life' Now for those of you who only know me from the telly or radio, I should point out that it's not completely presumptuous of me to share some thoughts on the future of the press, because I was in newspapers for 23 years, with long stints at the Independent, the Financial Times and the Sunday Telegraph, in that order.
  • (12) The suggestion that Ireland will operate UK migration controls at its own ports and airports carries with it the same presumptuous air.
  • (13) Since we humans are prone to launching chemical weapons, unwittingly killing off the bee population or other factors that could lead to our extinction, it may be presumptuous to imagine what we'll look like in 100,000 years.
  • (14) It is typically arrogant of David Cameron to presume a third Tory term in 2020 before the British public have been given the chance to have their say in this election.” David Cameron talks breasts, thighs – and third terms Read more A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “It’s incredibly presumptuous of David Cameron to be worrying about a third term as prime minister weeks before the general election.” Downing Street sources immediately tried to row back on Cameron’s comments, saying he was only rejecting the idea of serving a full third term.
  • (15) In a rare public appearance, Omar donned what was said to be the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad in Kandahar, and was proclaimed Amir ul-Momineen, Commander of the Faithful, making him the leader of all Muslims, a claim that many found presumptuous.
  • (16) It feels contemptuous and presumptuous and unpleasant.
  • (17) I mean, honestly, it’s presumptuous to suspect that [US negotiating partners] France, Russia, China, Germany and Britain ought to do what the Congress tells them to do.
  • (18) Election 2015: Tories in turmoil after Cameron rules out third term – live Read more Opponents accused Cameron of taking an election victory for granted and behaving in an “incredibly presumptuous manner” by naming Theresa May, Boris Johnson and George Osborne as likely successors in 2020.
  • (19) She said: : "I've always refused to be drawn on any of these discussions, I think it would be deeply presumptuous of me to do so.
  • (20) He told the conference that far from it being arrogant or presumptuous to make detailed plans, it was the reverse.

Supercilious


Definition:

  • (a.) Lofty with pride; haughty; dictatorial; overbearing; arrogant; as, a supercilious officer; asupercilious air; supercilious behavior.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Comment is perfectly legitimate, but the sneering, supercilious, specious and dismissive contributions masquerading as ‘commentary’ belittle the claims of a ‘quality’ paper.” Before attempting to assess the validity of the reader’s analysis – broadly shared by some other readers – I think his email reflects one or two other interesting aspects of the demographics of the Guardian’s readership and the left.
  • (2) After former tabloid editor Piers Morgan was fired from CNN , there were warnings that the US media was now poisoned to British accents and supposed superciliousness.
  • (3) But when I saw the advert it occurred to me that it, and that supercilious exclamation mark in particular, could in fact give people an excuse to express their homophobia.
  • (4) A decade later when I met him again in a hotel suite in London, it was more Mona Lisa than Cheshire Cat - coolly supercilious, ultimately indecipherable.
  • (5) It was often veiled, supercilious and sinister, but on screen he made us an offer we couldn't refuse.
  • (6) So the relationship that begins at the Milford railway station (it's two metaphorical stops down the line from Borchester – The Archers began five years after Brief Encounter) with a piece of grit in Laura's eye and Alec's unquestionably clean handkerchief will lead to afternoons together, lunch and a visit to the cinema (their silly movie is called Flames of Passion), a country drive, and an awkward trip to a friend's flat (the supercilious Valentine Dyall).
  • (7) Recently, I have caught myself saying something in everyday conversation that a few years ago would have elicited a cry of “supercilious wanker” from me if I’d heard someone else say it.
  • (8) Brexit, said Putin, was a result of irritation over Britain subsidising weaker economies, and “the British government’s self-assuredness and supercilious attitude to life-changing decisions in their own country and Europe in general”.
  • (9) I was made to regret it almost immediately when I was loudly condemned as a “supercilious prick”.
  • (10) Shimell's character is very supercilious and unsympathetic – he has a Basil Fawlty-esque fit of temper in a restaurant – and it is not easy to tell if this is deliberate, or if Kiarostami thinks Shimell elegant and cerebral.
  • (11) To others, though, he is at his supercilious worst here; floating the idea that, having withdrawn from the union, Scotland, in its beneficence, can turn round and preach to the English about how to deal with the nasty Tories.
  • (12) Their particular brand of upper class snobbery is now so anachronistic it’s simply amusing: in an obituary this week of Deborah , the writer pointed to a list of the late Duchess of Devonshire’s dislikes, which included but was not limited to “the bits of paper that fall out of magazines; female weather forecasters; the words ‘environment’, ‘conservation’ and ‘leisure’; supercilious assistants at makeup counters; dietary fads; skimmed milk; girls with slouching shoulders and Tony Blair.” And then there are the Nazis.
  • (13) You know when you're out walking and you see a party of riders, and they give you a slightly supercilious look?
  • (14) President Barack Obama is often criticised for superciliousness and arrogance.
  • (15) Now usually it would be advisable to ignore such news and treat in the same way as someone telling you that the sun is "hot and yellow", Piers Morgan is "smug and annoying", Katie Hopkins is "snobbish and supercilious" and the Mill is "tired and emotional" — it's just the way of life.