Compliant

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /kəmˈplʌɪənt/

Definitions

1. Willing to obey rules, requests, or demands without resistance or objection
2. Submissive to authority or rules, showing willingness to conform or adapt to demands and displaying readiness to follow directives without resistance
3. Ready to act according to rules, requests, or demands without objection ; fulfilling prescribed standards, norms, or requirements

Etymology: "Compliant" is a plain formation: the verb "comply" with the suffix "-ant" attached. "Comply" came into English from French, and the French verb ultimately traces back to Latin "complere," meaning "to fill up" or "to complete." The idea of filling a space or finishing a task gradually shifted toward the sense of fulfilling what someone else asks, and the meaning of "compliant" followed that path: a compliant person is one who fills out the expected shape of a request. The suffix "-ant" arrived through Old French from Latin "-ans" and "-antem," where it marked someone or something performing an action. It is the same ending found in words like "pleasant" and "servant." Its line runs through the old Germanic and Latin endings that eventually settled into English as "-ant," so "compliant" joins a long family of adjectives built from verbs.

Synonyms: obedient, flexible, submissive, yielding, acquiescent

Antonyms: defiant, disobedient, resistant, rebellious, stubborn