Man, finding good examples for writing practice can be real tricky, especially when you want something specific like a sentence dripping with smugness. I hit that wall just yesterday.
I sat down, laptop open, ready to practice writing smug characters. Typed into the search bar things like “examples of smug sentences.” What came back? Eh, mostly definitions, weak descriptions, a few lousy quotes that didn’t quite nail that “I told you so” or “I’m better than you” vibe properly. Total letdown. Felt like I was digging for treasure and only finding rusty nails. Too generic, way too vague.
Frustrated and Finding a Way
Gotta admit, I scratched my head for a bit. Just staring at the blank document felt useless. I remembered stumbling across those places online where people put tons of example sentences – not dictionaries, you know, the big collections built by people digging through books and stuff. Like those massive language projects. That was my lightbulb moment!
I popped open that massive sentence example site everyone knows. Didn’t search for “smug” this time. Nope. I got smarter. Thought about the exact flavor of smugness I wanted:
- Feeling superior after being right? (“Ha!”)
- Someone looking down their nose? (“Obviously…”)
- A character oozing self-satisfaction? (“As I always say…”)
Started throwing words like that into the search bar instead. “Superiority,” “condescension,” “smirk,” even “triumphant.” Bam! Suddenly, gold started showing up.
The Loot
Got hit with a bunch of sentences lifted straight from books and articles. Real people actually wrote these! Like this one: “With a smirk curling his lips, he casually tossed the report onto the table. ‘Took you long enough to see things my way.’” Oof, that condescending tone! Nailed it.
Or another gem: “‘Well,’ she drawled, examining her nails, ‘it seems I was correct. Again.’” That laziness, that dismissive attitude – pure, distilled smugness. Exactly the vibe I needed to see for my own practice. Just clicked instantly.
Clicked through a few more pages. Each relevant word brought back a fresh haul. Saved a bunch in a doc, nice and organized by the specific attitude – smirky, superior, dismissive, condescending. Ready to pick apart.
Now Practice Gets Good
Instead of staring blankly or getting lame examples, I ended up with a whole toolkit. Had clear examples right in front of me, showing how that smug tone actually works in real sentences. Word choice, sentence rhythm, attitude – all laid out. Way better than just reading a definition.
This whole digging exercise? Maybe ten minutes, tops. Went from zero to hero way faster than I thought. Learned my lesson: skip the dictionary word search. Go straight for the attitude words or actions connected to the feeling. Makes all the difference. Finding perfect examples? Now it’s just click and pick.
