complaisance

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From French. See complaisant.

Pronunciation

Noun

complaisance (countable and uncountable, plural complaisances)

  1. The quality of being complaisant, amiable or agreeable.
    • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.i:
      I see he has premeditated a Denial by the Complaisance of his Features.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
      It is no wonder that in an age when this kind of merit is so little in fashion, and so slenderly provided for, persons possessed of it should very eagerly flock to a place where they were sure of being received with great complaisance; indeed, where they might enjoy almost the same advantages of a liberal fortune as if they were entitled to it in their own right.

Translations

French

Pronunciation

Noun

complaisance f (plural complaisances)

  1. kindness
  2. complacency
  3. indulgence

Further reading