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as in cavalier
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude the presumptuous doctor didn't even bother to explain to me the treatment that I would be receiving

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of presumptuous Any suggestion that the Eagles offense is just as formidable without Hurts is either hopeful or presumptuous. Brooks Kubena, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025 Many felt that the mother-in-law was indeed being presumptuous. Karen Fratti, People.com, 23 Mar. 2025 Maybe some person will be presumptuous enough to wonder aloud what might have influenced the plot of this book. Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2025 Stone sails through all this, seeing off the sneering disapproval of white America and the presumptuous demands of the Black Panthers with equal disdain, and for a time his band, the aptly named Sly and the Family Stone, become a republic within the republic. Damon Wise, Deadline, 24 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for presumptuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for presumptuous
Adjective
  • The exiled poet was criticized for his arrogant attempts to influence British and American foreign policy.
    Graham Robb, The Atlantic, 9 June 2025
  • There is something dangerously, provocatively arrogant about his glorified gang leader looks.
    Timothy Crouse, Rolling Stone, 9 June 2025
Adjective
  • For him, a slow summer simply means lazy days and not being busy, just enjoying the summer.
    Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 16 June 2025
  • While not playing the past two weeks, Campusano has stayed busy before games, catching in the bullpen and working at first base.
    Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 June 2025
Adjective
  • Those travels led him to familiar favorites in his old San Francisco stomping grounds, reliable stalwarts that define our wide-ranging regions, and a spate of new openings quickly earning nationwide accolades.
    Danielle Dorsey, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2025
  • The high school journey for Hiram Johnson’s students came to a close Wednesday with familiar themes in a new location.
    Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 12 June 2025
Adjective
  • There’s something officious about Alden Ehrenreich.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Jan. 2023
  • Her charming luxury treasure trove has none of that officious chilliness that defines the typical store of its ilk but instead feels like a brocanterie crammed with interesting, unexpected luxury goods from across the world.
    Mark Ellwood, Robb Report, 2 Jan. 2023
Adjective
  • In a comedic twist, the Labrador retriever was filmed turning back to his owner during the drive, with a smug look on his face as if to boast about his comfortable spot.
    Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 June 2025
  • The letter writer’s smug verbiage may play well in one-party Maryland, but nationally, Americans seek a more collaborative, less agitational approach to political dialogue and reject arrogant, elitist insults spouted by some Democrats.
    Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 8 June 2025
Adjective
  • For a bit of old soul Florida, head to Everglades City, a proud frontier town in subtropical swamp wilderness.
    Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 8 June 2025
  • Their many successes and proud history are well known, so there are plenty of arguments to support Madrid in this competition… and also to want anyone but them to win it.
    Mario Cortegana, New York Times, 8 June 2025
Adjective
  • The Academic Senate also passed a resolution urging the school administration to resist any intrusive government demands for reform.
    Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 5 June 2025
  • From Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses using live facial recognition to workplace monitoring software, AI has evolved beyond mere assistance into proactive—and intrusive—decision-making.
    Vivian Toh, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
Adjective
  • Those words, immodest, carried away with possibility and essentially romantic, are articulated in the new documentary Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation, which makes its premiere this evening at Tribeca Festival in New York.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 5 June 2025
  • Not to be immodest, but the third did more than the second and the second did more than the first.
    Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 4 Dec. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Presumptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/presumptuous. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.

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