A superiority complex is a defense mechanism that develops over time to help a person cope with feelings of inferiority.[1][2] The term was coined by Alfred Adler (1870–1937) in the early 1900s, as part of his school of individual psychology.
Individuals with a superiority complex typically come across as supercilious, haughty, and disdainful toward others. They may treat others in an imperious, overbearing, and even aggressive manner.[3][4]
In everyday usage, the term is often used to refer to an overly high opinion of oneself.
... so the traits of character, especially the neurotic ones, serve as a psychic means and form of expression for the purpose of entering into an account with life, for the purpose of assuming an attitude, of gaining a fixed point in the vicissitudes of life, for the purpose of reaching that security-giving goal, the feeling of superiority.
...a constellation of behaviors–eg, aggressiveness, assertiveness, self-aggrandization, etc, which may represent overcompensation for a deep-rooted sense of inadequacy.