complete
Americanadjective
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having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full.
a complete set of Mark Twain's writings.
- Synonyms:
- unbroken
- Antonyms:
- partial
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a complete orbit.
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having all the required or customary characteristics, skills, or the like; consummate; perfect in kind or quality.
a complete scholar.
- Antonyms:
- defective
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thorough; entire; total; undivided, uncompromised, or unmodified.
a complete victory;
a complete mess.
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Grammar. having all modifying or complementary elements included.
The complete subject of “The dappled pony gazed over the fence” is “The dappled pony.”
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Football. Also completed. (of a forward pass) caught by a receiver.
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Logic. (of a set of axioms) such that every true proposition able to be formulated in terms of the basic ideas of a given system is deducible from the set.
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Engineering. noting a determinate truss having the least number of members required to connect the panel points so as to form a system of triangles.
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(of persons) accomplished; skilled; expert.
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Mathematics.
-
of or relating to an algebraic system, as a field with an order relation defined on it, in which every set of elements of the system has a least upper bound.
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of or relating to a set in which every fundamental sequence converges to an element of the set.
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(of a lattice) having the property that every subset has a least upper bound and a greatest lower bound.
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verb (used with object)
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to make whole or entire.
I need three more words to complete the puzzle.
- Synonyms:
- close, conclude, terminate, achieve, accomplish, perfect, consummate
-
to make perfect.
His parting look of impotent rage completed my revenge.
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to bring to an end; finish.
Has he completed his new novel yet?
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to consummate.
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Football. to execute (a forward pass) successfully.
He completed 17 passes in 33 attempts.
adjective
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having every necessary part or element; entire
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ended; finished
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(prenominal) thorough; absolute
he is a complete rogue
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perfect in quality or kind
he is a complete scholar
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(of a logical system) constituted such that a contradiction arises on the addition of any proposition that cannot be deduced from the axioms of the system Compare consistent
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(of flowers) having sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels
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archaic expert or skilled; accomplished
verb
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to make whole or perfect
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to end; finish
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(in land law) to pay any outstanding balance on a contract for the conveyance of land in exchange for the title deeds, so that the ownership of the land changes hands
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American football (of a quarterback) to make a forward pass successfully
Usage
Occasionally there are objections to modifying complete with qualifiers like almost, more, most, nearly, and quite, because they suggest that complete is relative rather than absolute: an almost complete record; a more complete proposal; the most complete list available. However, such uses are fully standard and occur regularly in all varieties of spoken and written English. See also perfect, unique.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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completednessnoun
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completenessnoun
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completernoun
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completionnoun
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precompletenessnoun
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subcompletenessnoun
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uncompletenessnoun
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completableadjective
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completiveadjective
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half-completedadjective
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quasi-completeadjective
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subcompleteadjective
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uncompletableadjective
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uncompleteadjective
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uncompletedadjective
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well-completedadjective
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completelyadverb
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completivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
completesimple
-
completessimple
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have completedperfect
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has completedperfect
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am completingprogressive
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are completingprogressive
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is completingprogressive
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have been completingperfect progressive
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has been completingperfect progressive
Past
-
completedsimple
-
had completedperfect
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was completingprogressive
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were completingprogressive
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had been completingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of complete
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French or directly from Latin complētus (past participle of complēre “to fill up, fulfill,” equivalent to com- com- + plē- fill + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
Complete means that something is finished, or has all of its necessary parts. When the mechanic hands you your keys, you hope that the work on your car is complete, and he hasn't left out a few important pieces of your engine. Complete can be used as an adjective to describe something that is whole or finished, like a complete turkey dinner, which includes not only the bird, but also the stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Another way to use complete is as a verb meaning to make something whole. Adding candles completes the birthday cake.
Vocabulary lists containing complete
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 2
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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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.
See Examples For:
The Chinese coast guard responded to the accusations in a statement, calling Manila's version of events a "complete distortion of the truth".
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
A federal judge has temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance’s efforts to complete its Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
"It takes about between eight to 12 weeks to complete."
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
But she said it would “receive additional upgrades and enhancements” this fall that will take about a month to complete.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“Jonah, we never saw the complete list,” Katherine reminded him.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The appeal for hedge funds was to profit when the takeover deal completes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Helou said Blumenfield’s motion completes the loop by keeping food waste close to home, creating more local composting and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transporting waste outside of the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told journalists he wants the bloc to prepare itself to accept Ukraine by 2030 -- if it completes the process by then.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
Apple needs to “evolve Siri into an agent that understands intent, retrieves context, calls apps and completes workflows,” Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a note last week.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026
After Joey successfully completes her mission, her courage grows steady legs, especially now that she isn’t confined to bed for months at a time.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Even projects that were close to being completed had to be redone to comply retroactively.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
They completed their domination of the international stage with Ferran Torres' decisive 106th-minute strike in extra time.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Tindall completed many of the first calculations on a laptop using ITensor, a high-performance tensor network software library created at the CCQ.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
Franklin completed the demolition of the original structure and began building a custom property that was completed in 2006.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
The plan was completed on Friday, May 16.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
There were only 22 seconds between Sam Burns completing his final round and Fox stroking home the 11-footer on Royal Birkdale's 18th green.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
On July 7, he was transferred from a prison to a state security force facility, two days before completing his term.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
News of the quake broke as President Claudia Sheinbaum was completing her regular morning news conference.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Villa are also close to completing the £38m signing of Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes, who left the Championship club's training camp in Portugal on Thursday to complete a medical.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Hel and I are Senior Skulls—just completing our last year of training.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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.
