complaisance

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /kəmˈpleɪzəns/ UK /kəmˈpleɪzəns/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
willingness to please others; obliging agreeableness

Her complaisance made her popular but easily exploited.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · willingness to please... obligingness amiability affability deference compliance agreeableness accommodation

Opposites

obstinacy contrarinessdisobligingness

Word family

Related forms complaisant complacentcomplacence

Etymology

From French complaisance, from complaire ('to please'), from Latin complacere ('to be very pleasing'), from com- (intensive) + placere ('to please').

complaire French complacere Latin placere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas

# complaisance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** kəmˈpleɪzəns
**IPA (UK):** kəmˈpleɪzəns

## Meanings
1. willingness to please others; obliging agreeableness

## Examples
- Her complaisance made her popular but easily exploited.

## Synonyms
- obligingness
- amiability
- affability
- deference
- compliance
- agreeableness
- accommodation

## Antonyms
- obstinacy
- contrariness
- disobligingness

## Related Forms
- complaisant
- complacent
- complacence

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: complaire
- Root: complacere
- Root: placere

## Etymology
From French complaisance, from complaire ('to please'), from Latin complacere ('to be very pleasing'), from com- (intensive) + placere ('to please').

## AI Etymology
Complaisance comes from French complaisance, from complaire ('to please'), from Latin complacere ('to be very pleasing'), from com- (intensive) + placere ('to please'). The historical trail runs through complaire in French, complacere in Latin, and placere in Latin. Morphologically, complaisance is transparent: it draws on French complaisance, from complaire ('to please'), from Latin complacere ('to be very pleasing'), from com- (intensive) + placere ('to please'). Used as a noun, complaisance now means "willingness to please others; obliging agreeableness", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as complaisant, complacent, and complacence. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

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complaisance

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