complementary

1. 1.

   of words or propositions so related that each is the negation of the other

   “`male' and `female' are complementary terms”

   Similarantonymous
2. 2.

   acting as or providing a complement (something that completes the whole)

   Synonymscomplementalcompleting

   Similaradditive

1. 1.

   either one of two chromatic colors that when mixed together give white (in the case of lights) or grey (in the case of pigments)

   “yellow and blue are complementaries”

   Synonymscomplementary color

   Broaderchromatic color

Other forms of complementary

plural

complementaries·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about complementary

What does complementary mean?

complementary means "of words or propositions so related that each is the negation of the other". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in complementary?

complementary has 4 syllables: com-plemen-tar-y. The stress falls on "tar". In IPA it is /ˌkɑmpləˈmɛntɹi/.

What is another word for complementary?

Close synonyms include complemental, completing, complementary color. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is complementary a common word?

complementary is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with complementary?

1 word rhymes with complementary. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.