compliant
Americanadjective
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complying; obeying, obliging, or yielding, especially in a submissive way.
a man with a compliant nature.
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manufactured or produced in accordance with a specified body of rules (usually used in combination).
Energy Star-compliant computers.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of compliant
Explanation
If you are willing to submit to someone's request, then you are compliant. Parents like it when their teenagers are compliant and follow the rules. Teenagers, on the other hand, are probably not as compliant as parents would like to think! The adjective compliant can also describe something that conforms or is agreeable. "The lawyers made sure that the man's will was fully compliant with state law, so that his children could not contest his desire to leave his entire estate to his dog, Fluffy." If you buy computer software that is not compliant with your operating system, it won't work properly.
Vocabulary lists containing compliant
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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The Poet X
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The Sun Is Also a Star
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, said the donations were 100% "compliant with the law today", the paper says.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
If it were up to him, the 44-year-old mechanic would choose something better: a fully compliant workshop with modern facilities on which he would pay taxes and bid for contracts.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Tesla notified the agency that it had self-certified all the vehicles as compliant with federal safety standards and plans to gradually expand commercial deployment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Previous rounds of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods have exempted goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, but the new ones don’t.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
He hated running, but the applause was intoxicating, and the prospect of more was just enough incentive to keep him marginally compliant.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
