supercilious: [16] The etymological notion underlying supercilious is of raising the ‘eyebrows’ as a sign of haughty disdain. It comes from Latin superciliōsus, a derivative of supercilium ‘eyebrow’, hence ‘haughtiness’. This was a compound noun formed from the prefix super- ‘above’ and cilium ‘eyelid’ (source of the English biological term cilium ‘hair-like process’ [18], whose meaning evolved via an intermediate ‘eyelash’).
supercilious (adj.)
1520s, "lofty with pride, haughtily contemptuous," from Latin superciliosus "haughty, arrogant," from supercilium "haughty demeanor, pride," literally "eyebrow" (via notion of raising the eyebrow to express haughtiness), from super "above" (see super-) + second element akin to cilium "eyelid," related to celare "to cover, hide," from PIE root *kel- (2) "to conceal" (see cell).
Since cilium is more recent than supercilium, the former can be interpreted as a back-formation to the latter .... If indeed derived from the root *kel- 'to hide', we must still assume that a noun *kilium 'eyelid' existed, since the eyelid can 'hide' the eye, whereas the eyebrow does not have such a function. Thus, supercilium may originally have meant 'what is above the cilium'. [Michiel de Vaan, "Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages," Leiden, 2008]
Related: Superciliously; superciliousness.
实用例句
1. Her eyebrows were arched in supercilious surprise.
大吃一惊的她高傲地扬起了眉毛。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The shop assistant was very supercilious towards me when I asked for some help.
我要买东西招呼售货员时,那个售货员对我不屑一顾.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. Yet there was nothing sarcastic or supercilious in the way Ames spoke.
可是艾姆斯说话的口气没有丝毫的嘲讽或傲慢的味道.
来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
4. His manner is supercilious and arrogant.
他非常傲慢自大。
来自辞典例句
5. Parkman occasionally allows a supercilious tone to creep into his writings.
