Arrogant people are the most annoying people you’ll ever meet. They feel the need to be right, talk over people, and think they’re better than everyone else. Now, you could tolerate their arrogance, hoping that they’ll change but not me—I believe arrogant people need to be humbled. So, if you’re petty like me, here are the perfect comebacks to use when dealing with arrogant people.
1. “Don’t Confuse Confidence With Arrogance.”
Arrogant people usually can’t tell the difference between confidence and arrogance. They think believing in their abilities is confidence. While confidence is about believing in yourself, it also acknowledges weaknesses, unlike arrogance. Therefore, this comeback is a way of asking the arrogant person to be humble.
2. “Your Arrogance May Impress Others, But Not Me.”
Some people are able to earn the respect of others despite being arrogant. The problem with that is that they won’t see the need to change their behavior. As a result, they think other people will put up with them. This is a chance to prove that you’re one of the few who won’t deal with their crap. It’s a great way of giving them a wake-up call that they don’t just automatically deserve the respect of everyone.
3. “I Treat Everyone With Respect Regardless of Their Status or Accomplishments.”
Sometimes, arrogant people boast about their wealth or position in a company. On the surface, you may assume their sole motive is to make you envious, but really they’re just trying to assert their dominance. For instance, if you see someone speaking down to a service worker because they feel above them, you can own them with this comeback.
4. “The World Doesn’t Revolve Around You.”
Arrogant people have a strong sense of self-importance and entitlement. When they need help, they’ll expect you to meet their needs and ignore others. For instance, the arrogant person may complain about others receiving medical treatment before them when they just got there. Using this comeback not only humbles them but challenges them to practice empathy.
5. “Why Can’t You Try Being Likable?”
Arrogant people often expect others to change to accommodate their unlikeable behavior. However, this comeback flips the situation by asking the arrogant person to change their behavior. By asking the person to become more likable, you encourage them to do some self-reflection. When the arrogant person self-reflects, they may consider the impacts of their arrogance. If one of the impacts has been losing friends over the years, the arrogant person will change their behavior to avoid losing more friends.
6. “Are You Competing for the Mr. /Mrs. Arrogant Award?”
Sometimes, you need a little humor to call out someone’s arrogance, and this comeback does just that. It points out that a person is so arrogant that they might as well enter into an award competition for their arrogance. Using this humorous comeback demonstrates your determination to avoid conflict by being light-hearted. At first, the arrogant person will laugh at your remark. Later, they may self-reflect because they wouldn’t want to be so arrogant that they would become eligible for Mr. /Mrs. Arrogant.
7. “I’m Only Tolerating Your Arrogance.”
Sometimes, arrogant people mistake your silence for admiration. To let them know you’re fed up with their behavior, use this comeback to assert yourself. The beauty of this comeback is that it leaves no room for misinterpretation due to how firm and direct it is. Therefore, it’s sometimes okay to call out someone’s arrogance directly without being subtle, e.g., sarcasm. That’s because some arrogant people may not pick up on sarcasm and continue with their arrogance.
8. “Is This Conversation a One-Man Show?”
Arrogant people love dominating conversations by not letting others get a word in. They monopolize conversations so that they can only share their views. This comeback is great because it reminds them about the importance of taking turns. By taking turns, other people can share their perspectives, which allows for diverse viewpoints. Therefore, the comeback reminds arrogant people that self-centeredness is a poor communication habit in conversations.
9. “It’s Impressive How You Always Manage to Make Everything About You.”
Arrogant people cannot seem to let others shine. For instance, you may talk about a wealthy person, and they’ll remind you they’re wealthy too. They think they’re the only person you should talk about and this comeback perfectly addresses the arrogant person’s self-centeredness. It forces them to accept that other people are doing well besides them.
10. “I Didn’t Realize You’re an Expert on Everything.”
Typically, arrogant people believe they have all the answers and when they make a claim, they’ll defend it with full conviction. If you know the arrogant person said something untrue, this is a comeback you can use. It reminds them that it’s okay not to know everything and that there’s no use in pretending to know something they don’t.
11. “Your Arrogance Overshadows Your Positive Qualities.”
We all do good and bad things. But sometimes, the bad you do makes others forget any good qualities you may have. The comeback helps the arrogant person come to terms with how unsavory they’re being. It forces them to ditch arrogance in favor of being good and lets them know that once they adopt positive qualities, they’ll get the respect of others.
12. “Are You Using Your Arrogance to Compensate for Something?”
Here’s another good comeback for investigating the root cause of someone’s arrogance. Some arrogant people have a deep need for external validation and think being arrogant will help them get it. That explains why some will show off their wealth or status, hoping people will praise them. This is an opportunity to remind them that validation isn’t everything. The person is still the same whether or not they get validation.
13. “Your Arrogance Screams Insecurity.”
This comeback invokes empathy by focusing on the person’s insecurities rather than their arrogance. It reminds arrogant people that everyone has insecurities. The only problem is that they’re using arrogance as a coping mechanism when there are other ways to address the things troubling them. The comeback is an effective way of fostering understanding and can lead to open-minded conversations. So, if you’re patient and understanding, you can use this comeback even though it sounds brash at first glance.
14. “Arrogance Only Gives Temporary Satisfaction.”
This comeback is a clever way of telling arrogant people to enjoy their arrogance while it lasts. Arrogant people derive satisfaction from their behavior because it makes them feel superior and dominant over other people. Initially, people put up with it, but sooner rather than later, they get fed up. That means the long-term consequence of arrogance is social alienation, which can lead to depression or anxiety.
15. “True Intelligence is Willingness to Learn From Others.”
Arrogant people think the only source of intelligence lies with them. This comeback seeks to reframe the concept of intelligence by encouraging them to learn from others. Learning from others could challenge some of the wrong notions they’ve always had. As a result, they can experience personal development and intellectual growth from engaging with different viewpoints. In the end, they may realize that nobody has all the answers and there’s no shame in learning from others with more experience than them.
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