complaisance

[ kuhm-pley-suhns, -zuhns, kom-pluh-zans ]
See synonyms for complaisance on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the quality of being complaisant.

Origin of complaisance

1
From French, dating back to 1645–55; see origin at complaisant, -ance

Other words from complaisance

  • non·com·plai·sance, noun
  • un·com·plai·sance, noun

Words Nearby complaisance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use complaisance in a sentence

  • I proceed how to examine some of those practices to which the priests tell us the Deity attaches his complaisance and his favors.

    Letters To Eugenia | Paul Henri Thiry Holbach
  • Basilio would smile bitterly and reflect that in this world complaisance with vice is rewarded better than fulfilment of duty.

    The Reign of Greed | Jose Rizal
  • He saw that he was getting beyond control, and, under an exterior of compliance and complaisance, he was genuinely alarmed.

    Sevenoaks | J. G. Holland
  • I try'd to pacify him, and spar'd no Pains nor complaisance for it, but all to no purpose.

  • My first theft was occasioned by complaisance, but it was productive of others which had not so plausible an excuse.

British Dictionary definitions for complaisance

complaisance

/ (kəmˈpleɪzəns) /


noun
  1. deference to the wishes of others; willing compliance

  2. an act of willing compliance

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