complaisant

English

Etymology

From French complaisant (“willing to please”), from complaire, from Latin complacēre, present active infinitive of complaceō (“please well”), from com- (“with”) + placeō (“please”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpleɪsənt/
• Homophone: complacent
• (US) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpleɪsənt/, /kəmˈpleɪzənt/

Adjective

complaisant (comparative more complaisant, superlative most complaisant)

1. Compliant.
2. Willing to do what pleases others.
3. (archaic) Polite, showing respect.

Usage notes

• Complaisant should not be confused with its homophone, complacent.

Derived terms

• complaisantly

Translations

compliant

• Bulgarian: отстъпчив (bg) (otstǎpčiv)
• Dutch: voldoend (nl) (aan (nl)), passend (nl)

• Swedish: foglig (sv)

willing to do what pleases others

• Bulgarian: внимателен (bg) (vnimatelen), любезен (bg) (ljubezen)
• Dutch: tegemoetkomend, welwillend, willig (nl)
• German: gefällig (de), entgegenkommend (de), wohlwollend (de)

• Spanish: complaciente (es)
• Swedish: tillmötesgående (sv)

polite

• Bulgarian: вежлив (bg) (vežliv)
• Dutch: tegemoetkomend, vriendelijk (nl), respectvol (nl)

• Swedish: artig (sv)

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

complaisant

1. present participle of complaire

Adjective

complaisant (feminine singular complaisante, masculine plural complaisants, feminine plural complaisantes)

1. complaisant, obliging, eager to please

Further reading

• “complaisant” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).