Complement is a bit abstract and has several meanings. The main idea is that a complement completes something. To complement means “to go together well” or “to make better” or “to make complete”: Do you think this dress complements my hair color?Yin complements Yang.This wine will complement our meal. As a noun, complement can either […]

Complacent means “un-worried” or “self-satisfied.” It describes a person who is not concerned when maybe they should be concerned. It is unacceptable to be complacent about climate change, because we can all do things to make life better for future generations. Complaisant means “agreeable” or “obliging”—happily going along with others’ wishes or trying to make people […]

Climactic comes from the noun climax, the “peak” of an event or story, while climatic comes from the noun climate which refers to the long-term weather patterns of an area; for instance, there is a Mediterranean climate and a tropical climate, among others.So, climactic means “associated with the climax, peak, or highest point of an […]

These two adjectives sound the same (in-SIP-ee-ent) but are not related.Insipient means “stupid” or “foolish” (literally, “not-knowing”) and is archaic (no longer in common use); most English speakers do not know this word (they are insipient about it!). However, there is another word, insipid, with the same meaning, which is common.Incipient, in contrast, is a common […]

These two adjectives are closely related, and some of their meanings overlap (are partly the same). Both describe relationships between two things—including both spatial and abstract relationships.Two things which are apposed may be next to each other, or in comparable positions—like two book-ends or two words in a poetic phrase, such as “early to bed, […]