complementary

[ kom-pluh-men-tuh-ree, -tree ]

/ ˌkɒm pləˈmɛn tə ri, -tri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR complementary ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

forming a complement; completing.

complementing each other.

noun, plural com·ple·men·ta·ries.

complementary color(def 1).

Nearby words

complemental, complemental air, complementally, complementarity, complementarity principle, complementary, complementary air, complementary angle, complementary angles, complementary base, complementary cells

Origin of complementary

First recorded in 1590–1600; complement + -ary

Related forms

com·ple·men·ta·ri·ness, nounun·com·ple·men·ta·ry, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for complementary

To an extent, such ambitions are complementary, yet Liana is not interested in “extreme biography.”
A Novel About a Novelist ‘Like’ Naipaul|Edward Platt|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He added that “the method is not a better method, but complementary to other methods.”
It’s Official: Religion Doesn’t Make You More Moral|Elizabeth Picciuto|September 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If galaxy mapping is like doing a population map, the complementary study is like a demographic survey.
SAMI Is Like Google Earth for the Universe|Matthew R. Francis|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
According to Sig Gissler, who administered the awards, the two series of stories “were complementary.”
Guardian and WaPo Share Pulitzer: Snowden Hails Victory for “More Accountable Democracy”|David Freedlander|April 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Between them, the four of them being so complementary, they managed to appeal to almost everyone.
What It Was Like to Watch the Beatles Become the Beatles—Nik Cohn Remembers|Nik Cohn|February 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That knowledge is directly revealed while we are apprehending any finite object, as its correlative and complementary antithesis.
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Volume LIV|Various
These two things are distinct in character, but they are complementary to each other.
The Rural Life Problem of the United States|Horace Curzon Plunkett
This is complementary to the preceding speech, of which it completes the metre.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays|Thomas Keightley
Colours are said to be complementary to each other which, by blending together, produce the perception of whiteness.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
It is a general maxim in design that colours look brightest when near their complementary colours.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for complementary

complementary

complemental

/ (ˌkɒmplɪˈmɛntərɪ, -trɪ) /

adjective

acting as or forming a complement; completing

forming a satisfactory or balanced whole

forming a mathematical complementsine and cosine are complementary functions

maths logic (of a pair of sets, etc) mutually exclusive and exhaustive, each being the complement of the other

(of genes) producing an effect in association with other genes

involving or using the treatments and techniques of complementary medicine

Derived Forms

complementarily or complementally, adverbcomplementariness, noun

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