Meaning & use
compliment
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Meanings
nouncountable
A kind remark that shows you admire or approve of someone or something.
Grammar: Takes pay or give: She paid me a compliment.
Patterns
- pay someone a compliment
- a compliment on something
He paid her a compliment on her presentation.
Thank you for the compliment; that made my day.
Being asked to lead the team felt like a real compliment.
verbtransitive
To tell someone, in a pleasant way, that you admire something about them.
Grammar: Takes a person as the object, often with on: compliment her on the cake.
Patterns
- compliment someone on something
- compliment someone for something
The manager complimented Ben on his careful work.
Guests complimented the chef for the fresh bread.
She complimented me on my choice of music.
nounpluralformal
Polite good wishes or greetings sent to someone, usually in the plural.
Grammar: Used as compliments in formal phrases: with the compliments of the management.
Patterns
- with the compliments of someone
- give my compliments to someone
Please give my compliments to the chef.
The flowers came with the compliments of the hotel.
He sent his compliments and a short note.
Word forms
| plural | compliments |
|---|---|
| third person singular | compliments |
| past tense | complimented |
| past participle | complimented |
| -ing form | complimenting |
Common combinations
- pay a compliment
- It costs nothing to pay a compliment to a colleague.
- fish for compliments
- He kept fishing for compliments about his new haircut.
- take it as a compliment
- If they copy your idea, take it as a compliment.
- return the compliment
- She praised my cooking, so I returned the compliment.
- a genuine compliment
- A genuine compliment is better than flattery.
- compliment someone on something
- Several people complimented her on the speech.
Synonyms and how they differ
- praise
- Praise is broader and can be given to groups or in public, while a compliment is usually a single personal remark.
- flattery
- Flattery is excessive or insincere praise given to win favor, whereas a compliment is normally honest.
- commend
- Commend is more formal and often used for official approval of work or bravery.
- tribute
- A tribute is a larger, often public expression of respect, not a passing remark.
Opposites
Word family
- complimentary adjective
- expressing praise, or given free of charge
- complimentarily adverb
- in a praising way, or without charge
- compliments noun
- polite greetings or praise
Commonly confused: compliment or complement?
compliment vs complement
Complement means something that completes or goes well with another thing: The wine is a good complement to the meal. Only compliment is about praise.
Practice
The red scarf is a perfect ______ to your gray coat.
Choose one answer.
Here the sense is something that goes well with another, so complement is right. Compliment would mean praise and does not fit this noun slot.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “compliment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.