"To be arrogant is one thing.....To be arrogant and an ass is a totally different thing..."

I wonder sometimes about we humans and our ability to not only make up words and define them but also to live by them as well.

As these wonderments go, I have come across the words ARROGANT and SUPERIOR recently and have wondered about myself, the use of the words, the meanings and my own daily actions as they relate to these definitions.

From DICTIONARY.COM

ar·ro·gant       /ˈær ə gənt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ar-uh-guh nt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective

1.	making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud: an arrogant public official.

2.	characterized by or proceeding from arrogance: arrogant claims.

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[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L arrogant- (s. of arrogāns) presuming, prp. of arrogāre. See arrogate, -ant ]

—Related forms

ar·ro·gant·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. presumptuous, haughty, imperious, brazen. See proud.

—Antonyms 1. meek. 2. modest, humble.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

su·pe·ri·or       /səˈpɪər i ər, sʊ-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suh-peer-ee-er, soo-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–adjective

1.	higher in station, rank, degree, importance, etc.: a superior officer.

2.	above the average in excellence, merit, intelligence, etc.: superior math students.

3.	of higher grade or quality: superior merchandise.

4.	greater in quantity or amount: superior numbers.

5.	showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others: superior airs.

6.	not yielding or susceptible (usually fol. by to): to be superior to temptation.

7.	higher in place or position: We moved our camp to superior ground.

8.	Botany. a. situated above some other organ. b. (of a calyx) seeming to originate from the top of the ovary. c. (of an ovary) free from the calyx.

9.	Anatomy. (of an organ or part) a. higher in place or position; situated above another. b. toward the head. Compare inferior (def. 7).

10.	Printing. written or printed high on a line of text, as the “2” in a2b; superscript. Compare inferior (def. 9).

–noun

11.	one superior to another.

12.	Also called superscript. Printing. a superior letter, number, or symbol. Compare inferior (def. 11).

13.	Ecclesiastical. the head of a monastery, convent, or the like.

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[Origin: 1350–1400; ME (adj.) < L, equiv. to super(us) situated above (adj. deriv. of super; see super-) + -ior comp. suffix; see -er⁴ ]

—Related forms

su·pe·ri·or·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 2. excellent, distinguished, unrivaled, first-rate, matchless. 5. haughty, arrogant, snobbish.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Of the two words, it appears that superior - in some of it's defintions - is actually more pleasing than arrogant.  Arrogant suggests that you are false - claiming to be something you are not or being isolently proud (insulting is a synonym for insolent). 

Superior has 13 definitions listed and only one (1) is apparently negative:

No 5 -

5.	showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others: superior airs.

All of the other definitions are simple matters of fact:  Higher in station, above grade, greater in quantity, etc.  So I am superior in alot of areas of life, like alot of other people.  You are superior in what you do compared to me because if I tried to do what you do on a daily basis, my inferiority would show.  That's not bad, it's just a fact.

That cut of meat that I used last week on the grill was a superior cut of meat!!!! (It really was by the way.).

I realized looking these words up that I am not arrogant at any time because I do not make claims to be something that I am not, nor do I pretend to be superior or important over others.

I am superior (or rather a superior to others) on a number of issues but I am not the No. 5 definition.

In the end, how you use words matters as much as the definition I suppose.