complacent (komplasent)

[= F. complai sant = Sp. complaciente = Pg. complacente = It. compiacente, It. comp i a cere = Sp. Pg. com placer = F. com plaire, please), be very pleasing (the E. sense 'pleased' due rather to complacence, q. v.), That calm look which seem'd to all a ent, And that complacent speech which nothing meant. Crabbe , Parish Register. Eternal doth keep, In his complacent arms, the earth, the air, the deep. Bryant , The Ages, vi. 2. Accompanied with or springing from a sense of quiet enjoyment; gratified; satisfied: as, a complacent look or smile. They look up with a sort of complacent awe to kings. Burke . complacent i alt (kom-plā-sen's hal), a . [ complacent i a , complacence (see complacence ), + -al .] Marked by complacence; arising from or causing gratification. The more high and excellent operations of complacen Baxter, Life and Times (1696), fol. p. 7. tial love. complacently (kom-plaʼsent-li), adv. In a complacent manner; with or from pleasure or grat i fication, especially self-satisfaction. We reflect very complacently on our own severity, and compare with great pride the high standard of morals established in England with the Paris i an laxity. Macaulay , Moore's Byron. complain (kom-plān'), v . [ complaynen , compleynen, compleignen , complaindre , com Then came a conquering earth-thunder, and rumbled That fierce complain to silence. Keats.