Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Compliments |
ComplimentsNoun1. (usually plural) a polite expression of desire for someone's welfare; "give him my kind regards"; "my best wishes". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "compliments" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Language | A courteous greeting; good wishes; regards. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: ComplimentsSynonyms: regard (n), wish (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Congratulation | Noun: congratulation, gratulation; felicitation; salute; condolence; compliments of the season. |
Vanity | Have too high an opinion of oneself, have an overweening opinion of oneself, have too high an opinion of one's talents; blind oneself as to one's own merit; not think small beer of oneself, not think vin ordinaire of oneself; put oneself forward; fish for compliments; give oneself airs; (assume); boast. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Compliments |
| English words defined with "compliments": annihilating ♦ Baisemains ♦ Complimenter ♦ devastating ♦ fulsomeness ♦ smarm ♦ To congratulate one's self ♦ unction ♦ withering. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "compliments": CHRISTMAS COMPLIMENTS, Clelie ♦ SPANISH COIN, Spanish Money. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | And I get compliments on the hyphen. (Uncle Buck; writing credit: John Hughes.) Ingenious! My compliments to the boys in the code department. (Arsenic and Old Lace; writing credit: Ryuzo Kikushima; Akira Kurosawa) Oh, come on, you're just fishing for compliments. (Caroline in the City; writing credit: Angela Carneiro) You think it is wrong, Hastings, to enjoy the compliments, or the 'buttering,' as you say? (Poirot; writing credit: Clive Exton; Anthony Horowitz) | |
Clever | I can live for a month on a day's compliments. (references; author: Mark Twain) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Paying Compliments (1953) Compliments of the Season (1930) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Compliments of Dr. Wm. S. Norris & Bro. Surgeon Dentists.... Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | The "Wangtown Bugle" sends its compliments and presents its clubbing list for 1895. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Compliments of the season. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Compliments of Union Mills Co., Detroit, Mich. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Fairbank's cherubs--Presented with the compliments of N.K. Fairbank & Co., lard refiners, Chicago & St. Louis. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | The compliments of the season a la carte. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Oscar Wilde | Women are never disarmed by compliments. Men always are. That is the difference between the two sexes. |
Sun Tzu | When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce. |
Thomas Fuller | Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | She had not even a share in his opening compliments. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | My brother gave him all these details with that easy gaiety which you know is peculiar to him, intermingling his words with compliments for me. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | The port compliments the development of Map-Ta-Phut Industrial Estate, a petrochemical industrial estate with 56 factories and a total of 13,600 industrial workers. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Henry Hyde | Actually, Robert, I do not. I hear the opposite. I hear commendations, compliments, words of praise. Most of us are very well satisfied with George W. Bush and the job he is doing. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Compliments" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 92.86% of the time. "Compliments" is used about 224 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (plural) | 92.86% | 208 | 21,075 |
| Lexical Verb (-s form) | 7.14% | 16 | 87,710 |
| Total | 100.00% | 224 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "compliments": angle for compliments ♦ compliments of the season ♦ fish for compliments ♦ give smb.'s compliments to ♦ my best compliments ♦ pay compliments ♦ pay smb. compliments ♦ To make one's compliments to ♦ with the compliments. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "compliments": compliments-to-the-chef. | |
Ending with "compliments": mock-compliments. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "compliments"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | urime, të fala (greetings, love, regard, regards, remembrances, respects, salutations), përshëndetje (bow, greeting, hail, hallo, salutation, salute, send off), nderim (consideration, credit, curtsey, curtsy, deference, devoirs, distinction, esteem, estimation, homage, honor, honour, obeisance, respect, respectability, respectfulness, reverence, salute, veneration). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | جامله (give smb.'s compliments to), جامل (compliment, extol, flatter, pay compliments, soothe). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | поздравления (congratulations, slap on the back). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 恭维 (Compliment, Flattered, flattering). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | pozdravy (regards, remembrances, respects), pozdrav (greeting, salute). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | terveiset (regards, respects). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | compliments, hommages. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Komplimente. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | üdvözlet (greeting, regard, regards, remembrances, respects). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | convenevoli, complimenti (congratulations), omaggio (free sample, gift, give away, homage, hommage, obeisance, regards, respects, tribute), omaggi. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 愛想 (civility, courtesy, graces, sociability). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | あいそう (civility, courtesy, graces, sociability), あいそ (appeal, civility, complaint, courtesy, graces, sociability). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 상보 (Compliment, Tablecloth). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | moyllaghyn (laud), corp as slaynt (respects), bannaght (blessing, greeting, salute). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | omplimentscay complimente (compliment, greeting, greetings, love, remembrance), laudã (beslaver, bounce, commendation, display, eulogy, glory, Laud, pat on the back, praise, vaunt). (various references) поздравление (compliment, congratulation, congratulation to, felicitation). (various references) soraidh (a farewell, farewell compliments, good wishes). (various references) pozdravi (greetings, regards, remembrances). (various references) hälsningar (greetings, love, regard, regards). (various references) selâmlar (my best compliments), saygılar (my best compliments, respects), en iyi dileklerle (with the compliments). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"Compliments" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: commpliment, compiments, complaiment, complament, complamints, complemints, compliement, compliements, complimenta, complimente, complimento, complimints. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "compliments" (pronounced kÄ"mpluments) |
| 5 | -m e n t s | comments. |
| 4 | -e n t s | accents, contents. |
| 3 | -n t s | abandonments, abatements, abortifacients, accelerants, accidents, accompaniments, accomplishments, accountants, accounts, accouterments, achievements, adherents, adjustments, adolescents, advancements, advertisements, affronts, agents, agreements, ailments, alignments, allotments, amendments, amounts, amusements, ancients, announcements, antecedents, antidepressants, antioxidants, ants, apartments, applicants, appointments, appoints, arguments, armaments, arraignments, arrangements, aspirants, assailants, assessments, assignments, assistants, astringents, attachments, attendants, aunts, ballpoints, basements, battlements, belligerents, blandishments, blueprints, blunts, bombardments, brents, celebrants, cents, chants, checkpoints, circumvents, claimants, clients, coefficients, combatants, commandments, commitments, compartments, complainants, complaints, complements, components, condiments, confidants, confronts, consents, consonants, constants, constituents, constraints, consultants, contaminants, contestants, continents, contingents, coolants, copayments, cormorants, correspondents, counts, covenants, croissants, Crosscurrents, currents, curtailments, dachshunds, debutantes, decedents, decongestants, defendants, deferments, defoliants, delinquents, dents, deodorants, departments, dependents, deployments, depressants, derailments, descendants, descendents, descents, detergents, determinants, deterrents, developments, deviants, disagreements, disappointments, disappoints, disbursements, discontents, discounts, disinfectants, dispersants, displacements, dissents, dissidents, divestments, docents, documents, eggplants, elements, elephants, embarrassments, emigrants, emplacements, employments, enactments, encampments, encroachments, endorsements, endowments, enforcements, engagements, enhancements, enjoyments, enlargements, enrollments, entanglements, entertainments, enticements, entitlements, entrants, environments, equipments, equivalents, escarpments, establishments, events, experiments, exponents, ferments, figments, filaments, fingerprints, flaunts, flints, fluorescents, fonts, footprints, forints, formants, fragments, frequents, fronts, garments, giants, governments, grandparents, grants, grunts, haunts, hints, hunts, hydrants, immigrants, impairments, impeachments, impediments, implants, implements, impoundments, imprints, improvements, incidents, incitements, incompetents, increments, incumbents, independents, indictments, indigents, inducements, infants, informants, infringements, ingredients, inhabitants, inhalants, innocents, inpatients, installments, instruments, insurgents, intents, invents, investments, involvements, irritants, jaunts, joints, judgements, judgments, laments, lieutenants, ligaments, litigants, lubricants, malcontents, managements, measurements, merchants, migrants, militants, mints, miscreants, misjudgments, misrepresents, misstatements, moments, monuments, mounts, movements, mutants, noncombatants, nonresidents, nutrients, occupants, opponents, ornaments, overpayments, overstatements, oxidants, pageants, paints, pants, parents, parliaments, participants, patents, patients, pavements, payments, peasants, pennants, percents, pheasants, pigments, pinpoints, pints, placements, plants, points, pollutants, portents, postponements, precedents, predicaments, prepayments, presents, presidents, prevents, prints, procurements, pronouncements, propellants, proponents, protestants, punishments, punts, quints, readjustments, reagents, realignments, reassignments, recipients, recounts, redeployments, reenactments, refinements, refreshments, refrigerants, Regents, regiments, registrants, reimbursements, reinforcements, remnants, rents, repayments, replacements, represents, reprints, requirements, resentments, resents, residents, respondents, restatements, restaurants, restraints, retirements, retrenchments, rodents, rudiments, sacraments, saints, savants, scents, sealants, sediments, segments, sentiments, sergeants, serpents, servants, settlements, shipments, solvents, splints, sprints, standpoints, statements, stimulants, stints, storefronts, students, stunts, subcontinents, succulents, supergiants, superintendents, supplements, sweatpants, taints, talents, taunts, temperaments, tenants, tenements, tents, tints, torments, torrents, tournaments, transients, transplants, treatments, tyrants, undercurrents, undergarments, underpants, underpayments, vagrants, variants, vents, viewpoints, wants, warrants, waterfronts. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-i-l-m-m-n-o-p-s-t" | |
-1 letter: compliment. | |
-2 letters: complines, simpleton. | |
-3 letters: centimos, comments, compiles, complies, compline, complins, lections, leptonic, milepost, nepotism, pentomic, pimentos, pinocles, polemics, polemist, potlines, telsonic, toplines. | |
-4 letters: centimo, cineols, citoles, clients, clonism, coempts, comment, commies, commits, compels, compile, complin, emptins, entoils, entopic, epsilon, impones, incepts, inclose, incomes, inspect, lectins, lection, leptons, limpest, limpets, lomeins, loments, meltons, mesonic. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-i-l-m-m-n-o-p-s-t" | |
+3 letters: accomplishment. | |
+4 letters: accomplishments, complementaries, complementizers. | |
+5 letters: compartmentalise, complementations. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Spoken 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
