overbearing suggests a tyrannical manner or an intolerable insolence.
an overbearing supervisor
supercilious implies a cool, patronizing haughtiness.
an aloof and supercilious manner
disdainful suggests a more active and openly scornful superciliousness.
disdainful of their social inferiors
Example Sentences
… the tempos were all-out fast and the tone was flat-out insolent. To some, rock-and-roll was as threatening as Communism and desegregation. Margo Jefferson, New York Times, 26 Oct. 1994Sweating, cursing the whole Mickey Mouse operation, they paced themselves with their own insolent complaints while the foreman cursed loudest … Jayne Anne Phillips, Granta, Spring 1991They could go days without food or water; they could withstand burning heat … ; and if they were horribly cruel to their captives, they could themselves accept torture with insolent defiance. James A. Michener, Texas, 1985Insolent behavior will not be tolerated. an appallingly insolent reply to a reasonable request
Recent Examples on the WebAsk my mother, who possesses, tucked away in her basement, the world’s largest collection of photographs of an insolent child pouting, scowling, smirking, staring at the ground, squinting at the sky or watching a squirrel in the corner of the yard. Jason Gay, WSJ, 5 Aug. 2022 Chaplin had a Hollywood studio of his own, and his mighty, insolent artistry had the intricacy, the precision, and the refinement of a Swiss watch. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 23 July 2022 Malik al-Dweish said his father was taken from a Mecca hotel in 2016 after tweeting a sermon that appeared to insult MBS with an allegory of an insolent child spoiled by his father.WSJ, 17 May 2021 His worst behavior is being insolent and arrogant with the school counselor. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 13 June 2020 But the stage only lights up when Ribler’s Marchbanks is skulking around in his velvet smoking jacket, looking now anguished, now insolent, now ecstatic.Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2019 As Omari, Kory Pullman turns the nearly impossible trick of conveying a troubled young man as both a stubborn, insolent jackass and a vulnerable, hurting kid. Dominic P. Papatola, Twin Cities, 5 Oct. 2019 The banking powers are more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 22 Aug. 2019 Writing about Sabatini’s many bad choices and insolent remarks always requires consideration. Lauren Ritchie, orlandosentinel.com, 21 June 2019 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Latin insolent-, insolens unaccustomed, overbearing, from in- + solens, present participle of solēre to be accustomed; perhaps akin to Latin sodalis comrade — more at sib