COMPLIMENTS

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does compliments mean? 

• COMPLIMENTS (noun)
  The noun COMPLIMENTS has 1 sense:

1. (usually plural) a polite expression of desire for someone's welfare

  Familiarity information: COMPLIMENTS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPLIMENTS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(usually plural) a polite expression of desire for someone's welfare

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

compliments; regard; wish

Context example:

my best wishes

Hypernyms ("compliments" is a kind of...):

greeting; salutation ((usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting))

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

 Context examples 

For Mrs. John Brooke, with the maker's congratulations and compliments.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I gave Mr. Peggotty to understand that she was as jolly as I could wish, and that she desired her compliments—which was a polite fiction on my part.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Compliments always take you by surprise, and me never.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The Baronet will never set the Thames on fire, but there seems to be no harm in him.—reciprocal compliments, which would have been esteemed about equal.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Also, treat yourself to several new items for your wardrobe because with Venus in Pisces, your selections will surely win you compliments.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

‘You have paid me several compliments, Mr. Moriarty,’ said I.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Its contents ran thus: Dr. Jekyll presents his compliments to Messrs. Maw.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Make my compliments to your husband.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The answer was only in this short note: Miss Fairfax's compliments and thanks, but is quite unequal to any exercise.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)