compliment
[noun]
Synonyms:
- praise, bouquet, commendation, congratulations, eulogy, flattery, honour, tribute
[verb]
Synonyms:
- praise, commend, congratulate, extol, flatter, pay tribute to, salute, speak highly of

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Antonyms: taunt
Contrasted words: dig, gibe, jeer, slam, belittle, decry, denigrate, depreciate, disparage, run down
Related Idioms: take off one's hat to
Related Words: trade-last, laud, laudation, praise, accolade, commendation, honor, blessing(s), congratulation(s), felicitation(s), encomium, eulogy, tribute

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English Thesaurus: praise, congratulate, compliment, flatter, rave about something, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. com‧pli‧ment¹ /ˈkɒmpləmənt, ˈkɒmplɪmənt $ ˈkɑːm-/ noun
[Date: 1600-1700; Language: French; Origin: Italian, from Spanish cumplimiento, from cumplir; ⇒ comply]

1. [countable] a remark that shows you admire someone or something:
All the guests paid her extravagant compliments.
Being compared to Abba is a great compliment.
compliment on
compliments on her appearance

2. take something as a compliment to be pleased about what someone says about you, even though they may not mean to be nice:
They all seem to think that I ask rather cheeky questions, which I’ll take as a compliment.

3. [singular] an action that shows you admire someone:
He paid MacLennan the finest compliment of all by imitating him.
compliment to
It’s a great compliment to the band that he came out of retirement to interview them.

4. fish for compliments to try to make someone say something nice about you

5. compliments [plural] praise or good wishes:
This soup is delicious; my compliments to the chef.

6. with the compliments of somebody/with our compliments formal used by a person or company when they send or give something to you:
With the compliments of J. Smith & Son.
Please accept these tickets with our compliments.

7. the compliments of the season old-fashioned used as a spoken or written greeting at Christmas and New Year

8. return the compliment to behave towards someone in the same way as they have behaved towards you:
They didn’t take a lot of notice of me, and I returned the compliment.

9. back-handed compliment British English, left-handed compliment American English something that someone says to you which is nice and not nice at the same time:
‘You’ve got a brain. Try using it.’ ‘Thanks for the back-handed compliment!’

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. com‧pli‧ment² /ˈkɒmpləment, ˈkɒmplɪment $ ˈkɑːm-/ verb [transitive]
to say something nice to someone in order to praise them
compliment somebody on something
Bob complimented me on my new hairstyle.
The groom was so nervous he forgot to compliment the bridesmaids.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

compliment
noun
I. expression of praise
ADJ. great, higher/highest, tremendous To listen to someone is the greatest compliment you can pay.
pretty | unexpected | backhanded, double-edged, dubious In a backhanded compliment she said he looked very good for his age.
VERB + COMPLIMENT pay sb | mean sth as Please don't misunderstand me?I meant it as a compliment.
get, receive | accept, acknowledge She acknowledged their compliments with a big smile.
regard sth as, take sth as I'll take that as a compliment.
fish for She's always fishing for compliments about her looks.
repay, return He returned her compliment by saying how well she looked.
PREP. ~ on She received several compliments on her speech.
~ to If Mark's wearing a suit, that'll be a compliment to you!

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

compliment
II. your compliments: good wishes
VERB + COMPLIMENT give sb, present (sb with), send sb Please give my compliments to your wife.
COMPLIMENT + NOUN slip The only enclosure was a formal compliments slip from the accounts department.
PREP. with sb's ~ (= free) All guests will receive a bottle of champagne with our compliments.
~ to my compliments to the chef (= to show that you like a particular dish)

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

compliment

pay/give somebody a compliment
He was always paying her compliments.
mean something as a compliment
When I said she’d lost weight, I meant it as a compliment.
get/receive a compliment
The exhibition has received a lot of compliments from the public.
accept a compliment (=show that you are pleased to have been given a compliment)
She accepted his compliment graciously.
a great compliment
He said he loved my paintings, which was a great compliment.
the highest compliment (=the best thing you can say)
The highest compliment you can pay an actor is to say they don’t look as if they are acting.
an unexpected compliment
John blushed at the unexpected compliment.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

praise to say that you admire and approve of someone or something, especially publicly:
The film was praised by the critics when it first came out.
The report praises staff in both schools.
It’s important to praise children.
congratulate to tell someone that you think it is good that they have achieved something:
I congratulated him on his success.
The government should be congratulated for what they have achieved.
compliment to say to someone that you like how they look, or you like something they have done:
She complimented me on my new hairstyle.
He complimented my cooking.
flatter to praise someone in order to please them or get something from them, even though you do not mean it:
He had persuaded her to buy it by flattering her and being charming.
You’re just flattering me!
rave about something (also enthuse about something formal) to talk about something you enjoy or admire in an excited way, and say that it is very good. Rave is rather informal, whereas enthuse is much more formal and is used mainly in written English:
Everyone is raving about the movie.
She enthused about the joys of motherhood.
applaud formal to publicly praise a decision, action, idea etc:
Business leaders applauded the decision.
A spokeperson applauded the way the festival had been run.
commend formal to praise someone or something, especially officially:
After the battle, Andrew Jackson commended him for ‘his courage and fidelity’.
The officers should be commended for their prompt action.
hail somebody/something as something especially written to describe someone or something in a way that shows you have a very good opinion of them, especially in newspapers, on television reports etc:
The book was hailed as a masterpiece.
Journalists and music writers hailed the band as ‘the next big thing’.
He is being hailed as the new James Dean.
give somebody praise
Give your dog plenty of praise when it behaves well.
get praise
His actions did not get the praise they deserved.
win/earn/receive praise
The trade deal won praise from the American business community.
deserve praise
She deserves praise for all the charity work she does.
be singled out for praise (=be the one person who is praised)
His work was singled out for praise by the examiners.
heap/lavish praise on somebody (=praise them a lot)
Ireland's manager has heaped praise on his team.
shower somebody with praise (=praise them a lot)
Taiwan's media lately showered praise on Li Yundi, the 18-year-old piano prodigy.
high praise (=a lot of praise)
The film won high praise from critics and audiences alike.
special praise
My sister was constantly singled out for special praise.
lavish praise (=very high praise)
United’s captain received lavish praise from his manager.
faint praise (=comments that seem to praise someone, but in a way that does not really give them much praise)
He wins faint praise as ‘the only candidate with a grain of sense’.
be full of praise for somebody (=praise them a lot)
Captain Jones was full of praise for his men.
have nothing but praise for somebody/something (=praise them a lot, especially when they have had to deal with a difficult situation)
Passengers had nothing but praise for the pilot.
words of praise
She still had some words of praise for her ex-husband’s wit and charm.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

compliment
̘. ̈n.ˈkɔmplɪmənt
See: return the compliment

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲