compound-complex sentence

[ kom-pound-kom-pleks ]

noun
  1. a sentence having two or more coordinate independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses, as The lightning flashed (independent clause) and the rain fell (independent clause) as he entered the house (dependent clause).

Origin of compound-complex sentence

1
First recorded in 1920–25

Words Nearby compound-complex sentence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use compound-complex sentence in a sentence

Cultural definitions for compound-complex sentence

compound-complex sentence

A sentence that contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause: “Queen Elizabeth I was called a redhead (independent clause), but no one knew her hair color for sure (independent clause) because she always wore a wig (dependent clause).” “Because she always wore a wig” is a dependent clause starting with the subordinating conjunction (see subordination) because. (Compare complex sentence, compound sentence, and simple sentence.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.