complimentary

complimentary

English

Etymology

compliment +‎ -ary

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒmplɪˈmɛnt(ə)ɹi/
• (General American) enPR: kŏm'plĭ-mĕnʹtə-rē, -trē, IPA^(key): /ˌkɑmplɪˈmɛnt(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (US)

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• Homophone: complementary
• Rhymes: -ɛntəɹi, -ɛntɹi
• Hyphenation: com‧pli‧men‧ta‧ry

Adjective

complimentary (comparative more complimentary, superlative most complimentary)

1. In the nature of a compliment.

   Antonym: uncomplimentary

   a complimentary remark

   • 1877, August 25, Mark Twain, The Letters of Mark Twain, (Vol. 3, 2004, p. 56)

     But yesterday evening late, when Lewis arrived from down town he found his supper spread, and some presents of books there, with very complimentary writings on the fly-leaves, and certain very complimentary letters, and more or less greenbacks of dignified denomination pinned to those letters and fly-leaves...

2. Free; provided at no charge.

   Synonyms: free of charge; see also Thesaurus:gratis

   complimentary drinks

   • 2005, Vivien Lougheed, Belize Pocket Adventures, p. 65.

     In the evenings, Ward and PJ offer guests a complimentary drink. This gesture seems to reinforce the hosts' desire to make everyone feel welcome.

3. With respect to the closing of a letter, formal and professional.
   • 2003, Richard H. Beatty, The Perfect Cover Letter

     The complimentary closing is the word grouping used to bring the message or text to a close.

Usage notes

• Complimentary and complementary are frequently confused and misused in place of one another.

Derived terms

• complimentarily
• complimentariness

Translations

in the nature of a compliment

Afrikaans: vleiende Basque: osagarriak Bulgarian: хвалебствен (bg) (hvalebstven), ласкателен (bg) (laskatelen) Chinese: Mandarin: 赞美的 Dutch: vleiend (nl) m Finnish: kohtelias (fi), imarteleva French: flatteur (fr), laudatif (fr) Galician: lisonjeiro m German: schmeichelnd (de) Greek: κολακευτικός (el) m (kolakeftikós) Hungarian: bókoló, dicsérő (hu), elismerő (hu), hízelgő (hu) Korean: 아첨하는 (acheomhaneun) Latvian: glaimojošs m Portuguese: lisonjeiro (pt) Romanian: laudativ (ro), măgulitor (ro) Russian: ле́стный (ru) (léstnyj) Spanish: lisonjero (es) Swedish: komplimentär, komplimenterande Tagalog: nakakabigay-puri

free; provided at no charge — See also translations at free of charge

Bulgarian: гратис (bg) (gratis), безплатен (bg) (bezplaten) Chinese: Mandarin: 免费赠送的 Finnish: ilmainen (fi), vapaa- French: gratuit (fr) German: kostenlos (de), gratis (de) Hungarian: tisztelet- (hu), (attributively) ajándék (hu), ingyenes (hu) Polish: nieodpłatny (pl), darmowy (pl) Romanian: gratuit (ro) Russian: беспла́тный (ru) (besplátnyj) Swedish: kostnadsfri (sv) Turkish: bedava (tr)

with respect to the closing of a letter, formal and professional

Bulgarian: поздравителен (bg) (pozdravitelen) Chinese: Mandarin: 问候的 Hungarian: záró (hu), elköszönő, (together with "closing") levélzárás, levélzáradék Romanian: de felicitare Turkish: mültefit (tr), iltifatkâr

Further reading

• complimentary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia