complaisant
/'kɔm'pleizənt/
Definition
- Adjective:
- Willing to please others; cheerfully obliging: "complaisant" describes a person who is eager to satisfy the wishes of others, often in a pleasant and accommodating manner.
- Excessively deferential or yielding: It can sometimes imply an overly eager willingness to comply, potentially to the point of lacking assertiveness.
Examples of Usage
- Adjective:
- She was a complaisant host, ensuring every guest felt comfortable and attended to.
- His complaisant nature made him popular at work, as he never refused a request for help.
- The reference describes "a complaisant husband whose wife has taken a lover," illustrating a person who tolerates a situation to avoid conflict.
Advanced Usage
- "to be complaisant towards": to be particularly accommodating or yielding to someone.
- The manager was complaisant towards the demands of the important client.
- Used in formal or literary contexts to describe a character trait, often with a nuanced understanding that the willingness may stem from a desire to avoid trouble or gain approval.
Variants and Related Words
- Complaisance (n): The quality of being complaisant; a willingness to please.
- Her complaisance was mistaken for weakness by some of her colleagues.
- Compliant (adj): Inclined to agree with others or obey rules, often in a more general or regulatory context than "complaisant," which emphasizes a cheerful, personal willingness.
Synonyms
- Obliging: Willing to do a service or kindness; helpful.
- Accommodating: Fitting in with someone's wishes or demands.
- Deferential: Showing respect and esteem toward another.
- Amiable: Having a friendly and pleasant manner.
Antonyms
- Obstinate: Stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action.
- Inflexible: Unwilling to change or compromise.
- Uncooperative: Not willing to help others or do what they ask.
Related Phrases
- "with complaisant ease": doing something in a very willing and unbothered manner.
- He agreed to the last-minute changes with complaisant ease.
- While "complaisant" itself is not typically used in phrasal verbs, its meaning is central to phrases describing accommodating behavior.
Adjective
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showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others
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to close one's eyes like a complaisant husband whose wife has taken a lover
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the obliging waiter was in no hurry for us to leave
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