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compliant

adjective

Simple meaning

Compatible with or following guidelines, specifications, rules.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhmplyuhnt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

kəmpˈlaɪənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Willing to comply; submissive; willing to do what someone wants.

  2. Inclined to comply

    “Children compliant with the parental will.”

  3. Compatible with or following guidelines, specifications, rules, or laws.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Willing to comply; submissive; willing to do what someone wants.

Used this way, compliant is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use compliant

  • “Children compliant with the parental will.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

less compliantcompliant behaviorfully compliantcompliant patientcompliant childcompliant applicationcompliant motioncompliant behaviour

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: willing to comply

yielding

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.