complaisant

/'kɔm'pleizənt/

Thân thiện

The waiter was complaisant and brought extra napkins without being asked.

Definition

1. 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.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others
   • to close one's eyes like a complaisant husband whose wife has taken a lover
   • the obliging waiter was in no hurry for us to leave

Từ đồng nghĩa

• obliging