a. [ad. L. complacēnt-em pleasing, pr. pple. of complacēre: see above.]
† 1. Pleasing, pleasant, delightful. Obs. rare.
1660. Burney, Κέρδ. Δῶρον (1661), 106. In the complacent moneth of May.
1772. Mackenzie, Man of World, I. i. Her look was of that complacent sort which gains on the beholder.
2. spec. Feeling or showing pleasure or satisfaction, esp. in one’s own condition or doings; self-satisfied.
1767. Jago, Edge Hill, Evening, IV., in Poems (1784), 115.
| Not such thy lot, O BOURTON! nor from sight | |
| Retirest thou, but with complacent smile, | |
| Thy social aspect courts the distant eye, | |
| And views the distant scene reciprocal, | |
| Delighting, and delighted. |
1791. Cowper, Iliad, IV. 423. The monarch smiled Complacent.
1825. Southey, Paraguay, I. 25. The glorious savage … vain of his array Look’d with complacent frown from side to side.
1841. L. Hunt, Seer (1864), 52. Whenever Gibbon was going to say a good thing … he announced it by a complacent tap on his snuff-box.
1875. Gladstone, Glean., VI. xxxviii. 129. Multitudes … will accede … to this proposition … but with a complacent conviction … that it does not touch their case.
3. Disposed, or showing a disposition, to please; obliging in manner, complaisant. ? Obs.
1790. Burke, Fr. Rev., Wks. V. 160. They look up with a sort of complacent awe and admiration to kings, who know how to keep firm in their seat.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxii. The … complacent flattery of Leicester.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, vi. 62. Mr. Moore … was … a complacent listener to her talk.
