【Proud】 , 【arrogant】 , 【haughty】 , 【lordly】 , 【insolent】 , 【overbearing】 , 【supercilious】 , 【disdainful】 can mean in common filled with or showing a sense of one's superiority and scorn for what one regards as in some way inferior.
【Proud】 (see also 【proud】 under PRIDE ) usually connotes a lofty or imposing manner, attitude, or appearance that may be interpreted as dignified, elevated, spirited, imperious, satisfied, contemptuous, or inordinately conceited according to the circumstances.
【Arrogant】 implies a disposition to claim for oneself, often domineeringly or aggressively, more consideration or importance than is warranted or justly due.
【Haughty】 implies a strong consciousness of exalted birth, station, or character, and a more or less obvious scorn of those who are regarded as beneath one.
The last four words of this group are more specific than the preceding terms and refer more to the ways in which arrogance or haughtiness is exhibited than to the temperament or attitude.
【Lordly】 usually suggests pomposity, strutting, or an 【arrogant】 display of power or magnificence.
【Insolent】 implies both haughtiness and extreme contemptuousness; it carries a stronger implication than the preceding words of a will to insult or affront the person so treated.
【Overbearing】 suggests a bullying or tyrannical disposition, or intolerable insolence.
【Supercilious】 stresses such superficial aspects of haughtiness as a lofty patronizing manner intended to repel advances. It refers to one's behavior to others rather than to one's conceit of oneself, though the latter is always implied; often it suggests not only scorn but also incivility.
【Disdainful】 implies a more passionate scorn for what is beneath one than does 【supercilious】 ; it as often as not suggests justifiable pride or justifiable scorn.
