complimentary

English

Etymology

From compliment (noun) +‎ -ary. Piecewise doublet of complementary.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• 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, volume 3,2004, page 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, page 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 its homophone complementary are frequently confused and misused in place of one another.

Derived terms

• complimentarily
• complimentariness
• noncomplimentary
• overcomplimentary

 

Translations

in the nature of a compliment

• Afrikaans: vleiende
• Arabic: إِطْرَائِيّ (ʔiṭrāʔiyy)
• 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), bauchpinselnd (de)
• Greek: κολακευτικός (el) m (kolakeftikós)
• Hungarian: bókoló (hu), dicsérő (hu), elismerő (hu), hízelgő (hu)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 아첨하는 (acheomhaneun)
• Latin: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: glaimojošs m
• Malagasy: please add this translation if you can
• Malayalam: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: lisonjeiro (pt)
• Romanian: laudativ (ro), măgulitor (ro)
• Russian: ле́стный (ru) (léstnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Slovene: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: lisonjero (es)
• Swedish: komplimentär, komplimenterande
• Tagalog: nakakabigay-puri
• Welsh: canmoliaethus, clodforus

free; provided at no charge — see also 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)
• Welsh: rhadlon (cy), am ddim (cy)

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