Word of the Day

: June 15, 2009

complaisant

adjective kum-PLAY-sunt

What It Means

1 : marked by an inclination to please or oblige

2 : tending to consent to others' wishes

complaisant in Context

Derek was a complaisant boy, always happy to oblige whenever his mother or father asked him to go on an errand.

Did You Know?

The homophones "complaisant" and "complacent" are often confused -- and no wonder. Not only do they look and sound alike, but they also both derive ultimately from Latin "complacēre," meaning "to please greatly." "Complacent" usually means "self-satisfied" or "unconcerned," but it also shares with "complaisant" the sense of "marked by an inclination to please or oblige." This sense of "complacent" is an old one, but that hasn't kept language critics from labeling it as an error -- and on the whole, modern writers do prefer "complaisant" for this meaning. Conversely, "complaisant" is sometimes mistakenly used in contexts such as "complaisant about injustices," where "complacent," with its sense of "marked by self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies," should go. One aid is to remember that with the preposition "about," you probably want "complacent."