compleat

American

[kuhm-pleet] / kəmˈplit /

adjective

highly skilled and accomplished in all aspects; complete; total.

the compleat actor, at home in comedy and tragedy.

compleat British

/ kəmˈpliːt /

adjective

an archaic spelling of complete, used esp in the titles of handbooks, in imitation of The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton

"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

Etymology

Origin of compleat

1875–80; earlier spelling of complete, used phrasally in allusion to The Compleat Angler ( def. )

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.

See Examples For:

compleat

In the exhibit hall, 55 suppliers discreetly displayed their publications, a bewildering array of Bible translations and the latest wares for the compleat modern missioner.

From Time Magazine Archive

The medley is the most technically demanding event in swimming, requiring mastery of four separate strokes and three different types of turns—the test of the compleat swimmer.

From Time Magazine Archive

For in her own right Streisand is the compleat clown, psychologically foiling the world by supplying her own banana peels to slip on.

From Time Magazine Archive

As the Don, Paul Hecht is the compleat cynic and as seductive as the hell he courts.

From Time Magazine Archive

When Joseph Whipple met Ona, however, he was convinced of her “thirst for compleat freedom.”

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023