Dictionary
complected
adjective com·plect·ed \kəm-ˈplek-təd\
Definition of COMPLECTED
: having a specified facial complexion <a tall, thin man, fairly dark complected — E. J. Kahn>
Usage Discussion of COMPLECTED
Not an error, nor a dialectal term, nor nonstandard—all of which it has been labeled—complected still manages to raise hackles. It is an Americanism, apparently nonexistent in British English. Its currency in American English is attested as early as 1806 (by Meriwether Lewis) and it appears in the works of such notable American writers as Mark Twain, O. Henry, James Whitcomb Riley, and William Faulkner. The synonym complexioned, recommended by handbooks, appears now to be somewhat more common than complected in both literary and journalistic use.
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Origin of COMPLECTED
irregular from complexion
First Known Use: 1785
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