Dictionary
Thesaurus
Medical
Scrabble®
Spanish Central
Games
Word of the Day
Video
Blog: Words at Play
My Faves
Words at Play : Top 10 User-Submitted Words, Vol. 2
Next
Prev

#1: Complisult

Definition:

a backhanded compliment

Example:

A complisult from my aunt: "you gained some weight in your face. Looks nice." — Sandeep Parikh on Twitter, Nov. 24, 2009

Submitted by:

Diane Morris Bernstein, GA

Next
Prev
goto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slidegoto slide
See More
More Words at Play
They're, There, and Their
How to get them right
Precarious Is Not "Before Carious"
The History and Meaning of Precarious
"Pretentious" & More: The Words Most Often Looked Up
Top 10 Most Frequently Searched Words on M-W.com
Back to School? Time For Some Pedagogy.
But What is It?
A Who's Who of Literary Allusions
Words that Come from Characters in Books
Test Your
Vocabulary!
Get Our Free Apps
Voice Search, Favorites, Word of the Day, & More
iPhone • iPad • Android
Join Us!
Get the Word of the Day and More
Facebook • Twitter
10 Charming Words for Nasty People
Put-downs with flair
Learn More
When "Literally" isn't, well, literal
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.
Watch Now
Know what this is?
Test your vocab with our fun, fast game
Go Play
Fear of cats?
Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears
Learn More
Join Us
Merriam-Webster
on Facebook
Merriam-Webster
on Twitter
Bookstore: Digital and Print
Merriam-Webster references for Mobile, Kindle, print, and more.
See All
Other Merriam-Webster Dictionaries