Complete Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms complete American [kuhm-pleet] / kəmˈplit /

adjective

1. having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full.

   a complete set of Mark Twain's writings.

   Synonyms: unbroken Antonyms: partial

2. finished; ended; concluded.

   a complete orbit.

3. having all the required or customary characteristics, skills, or the like; consummate; perfect in kind or quality.

   a complete scholar.

   Antonyms: defective

4. thorough; entire; total; undivided, uncompromised, or unmodified.

   a complete victory;

   a complete mess.

5. Grammar. having all modifying or complementary elements included.

   The complete subject of “The dappled pony gazed over the fence” is “The dappled pony.”

6. Football. Also completed. (of a forward pass) caught by a receiver.

7. Logic. (of a set of axioms) such that every true proposition able to be formulated in terms of the basic ideas of a given system is deducible from the set.

8. Engineering. noting a determinate truss having the least number of members required to connect the panel points so as to form a system of triangles.

9. (of persons) accomplished; skilled; expert.

10. Mathematics.

    1. of or relating to an algebraic system, as a field with an order relation defined on it, in which every set of elements of the system has a least upper bound.

    2. of or relating to a set in which every fundamental sequence converges to an element of the set.

    3. (of a lattice) having the property that every subset has a least upper bound and a greatest lower bound.

verb (used with object)

completed, completing

1. to make whole or entire.

   I need three more words to complete the puzzle.

   Synonyms: close, conclude, terminate, achieve, accomplish, perfect, consummate

2. to make perfect.

   His parting look of impotent rage completed my revenge.

3. to bring to an end; finish.

   Has he completed his new novel yet?

4. to consummate.

5. Football. to execute (a forward pass) successfully.

   He completed 17 passes in 33 attempts.

complete British / kəmˈpliːt /

adjective

1. having every necessary part or element; entire

2. ended; finished

3. (prenominal) thorough; absolute

   he is a complete rogue

4. perfect in quality or kind

   he is a complete scholar

5. (of a logical system) constituted such that a contradiction arises on the addition of any proposition that cannot be deduced from the axioms of the system Compare consistent

6. (of flowers) having sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels

7. archaic expert or skilled; accomplished

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. to make whole or perfect

2. to end; finish

3. (in land law) to pay any outstanding balance on a contract for the conveyance of land in exchange for the title deeds, so that the ownership of the land changes hands

4. American football (of a quarterback) to make a forward pass successfully

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

Occasionally there are objections to modifying complete with qualifiers like almost, more, most, nearly, and quite, because they suggest that complete is relative rather than absolute: an almost complete record; a more complete proposal; the most complete list available. However, such uses are fully standard and occur regularly in all varieties of spoken and written English. See also perfect, unique.

Other Word Forms

• completable adjective
• completedness noun
• completely adverb
• completeness noun
• completer noun
• completion noun
• completive adjective
• completively adverb
• half-completed adjective
• precompleteness noun
• quasi-complete adjective
• subcomplete adjective
• subcompleteness noun
• uncompletable adjective
• uncomplete adjective
• uncompleted adjective
• uncompleteness noun
• well-completed adjective

Etymology

Origin of complete

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French or directly from Latin complētus (past participle of complēre “to fill up, fulfill,” equivalent to com- com- + plē- fill + -tus past participle suffix

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It isn’t unusual in this documentary to see a national champion faced with something like a 7-10 split and be unable to complete the mission.

From The Wall Street Journal

The moves were a complete departure from last year, when the Rams wrongly gambled that a young and aggressive pass rush could offset their decision to not make a single upgrade to the secondary.

From Los Angeles Times

Plants and landscapes will complete the scenes depicted.

From Barron's

The students, whose average age was 14, completed surveys twice.

From Science Daily

Before the drug can be tested in people, scientists must first complete toxicity studies.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• accomplish
• achieve
• close
• conclude
• determine
• develop
• do
• end
• execute
• finalize
• finish
• halt
• perform
• realize
• settle
• wrap up

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.