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complaisant

[ kuh m-pley-suh nt, -zuh nt, kom-pluh-zant ]
/ kəmˈpleɪ sənt, -zənt, ˈkɒm pləˌzænt /
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adjective

inclined or disposed to please; obliging; agreeable or gracious; compliant: the most complaisant child I've ever met.

RELATED WORDS

accommodating, amiable, compliant, conciliatory, deferential, easy, friendly, generous, good-humored, good-natured, indulgent, lenient, mild, obliging, polite, solicitous, submissive, good-tempered, easy-going

Nearby words

  1. complain,
  2. complainant,
  3. complainer,
  4. complaint,
  5. complaisance,
  6. complanate,
  7. compleat,
  8. compleat angler, the,
  9. complect,
  10. complected

Origin of complaisant

1640–50; < French (present participle of complaire) < Latin complacent- (stem of complacēns, present participle of complacēre; see complacent)
Related forms
Can be confusedcomplacent complaisant compliant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for complaisant

British Dictionary definitions for complaisant

complaisant

/ (kəmˈpleɪzənt) /

adjective

showing a desire to comply or oblige; polite
Derived Formscomplaisantly, adverb

Word Origin for complaisant

C17: from French complaire, from Latin complacēre to please greatly; compare complacent
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

Word Origin and History for complaisant

complaisant

adj.

1640s, from French complaisant (16c.), in Middle French, "pleasing," present participle of complaire "acquiesce to please," from Latin complacere "be very pleasing" (see complacent, with which it overlapped till mid-19c.). Possibly influenced in French by Old French plaire "gratify."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper