complaisant
[ kuhm-pley-suhnt, -zuhnt, kom-pluh-zant ]
adjective
inclined or disposed to please; obliging; agreeable or gracious; compliant: the most complaisant child I've ever met.
Origin of complaisant
11640–50; <French (present participle of complaire) <Latin complacent- (stem of complacēns, present participle of complacēre;see complacent)
Other words from complaisant
- com·plai·sant·ly, adverb
- non·com·plai·sant, adjective
- non·com·plai·sant·ly, adverb
- un·com·plai·sant, adjective
- un·com·plai·sant·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with complaisant
- complacent, complaisant , compliant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use complaisant in a sentence
And the hard-beaten world beneath them feels resentful and uncomplaisant to my soles.
I, Mary MacLane | Mary MacLaneHis great puzzle was the Anglo-Saxon, cold, austere and uncomplaisant.
Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights | Kelly Miller
British Dictionary definitions for complaisant
complaisant
/ (kəmˈpleɪzənt) /
adjective
showing a desire to comply or oblige; polite
Origin of complaisant
1C17: from French complaire, from Latin complacēre to please greatly; compare complacent
Derived forms of complaisant
- complaisantly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse