compliant
Americanadjective
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complying; obeying, obliging, or yielding, especially in a submissive way.
a man with a compliant nature.
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manufactured or produced in accordance with a specified body of rules (usually used in combination).
Energy Star-compliant computers.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of compliant
Explanation
If you are willing to submit to someone's request, then you are compliant. Parents like it when their teenagers are compliant and follow the rules. Teenagers, on the other hand, are probably not as compliant as parents would like to think! The adjective compliant can also describe something that conforms or is agreeable. "The lawyers made sure that the man's will was fully compliant with state law, so that his children could not contest his desire to leave his entire estate to his dog, Fluffy." If you buy computer software that is not compliant with your operating system, it won't work properly.
Vocabulary lists containing compliant
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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The Poet X
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The Sun Is Also a Star
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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.
The company was name-checked by the president, who said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission was working to bring the company into the U.S. “in a fully compliant legal fashion.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Maritime Administration on the availability of Jones Act compliant ships before deciding whether the waiver applies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Tristan Jones KC, prosecuting, said Razzell, who is currently in an open prison, had been "compliant with conditions" and had engaged in 20 sessions with a psychologist.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
O’Leary: Stablecoins are now Securities and Exchange Commission approved and compliant.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
But despair, more than filial duty, made me compliant.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
