- acting as or forming a complement; completing
- forming a satisfactory or balanced whole
- involving or using the treatments and techniques of complementary medicine
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
com•ple•men•ta•ry /ˌkɑmpləˈmɛntəri/USA pronunciation adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- complementing or completing.
com•ple•men•ta•ry
(kom′plə men′tə rē, -trē),USA pronunciation adj., n., pl. -ries.
adj.
n.
com′ple•men′ta•ri•ness, n.
adj.
- forming a complement;
completing. - complementing each other.
n.
- Fine ArtSee complementary color (def. 1).
- complement + -ary 1590–1600
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
complementary /ˌkɒmplɪˈmɛntərɪ; -trɪ/, complemental adj
'complementary' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
alternative medicine
- anaglyph
- antisense RNA
- aromatherapy
- blue
- campaign
- cDNA
- CMOS
- complementary angle
- complementary colour
- complementary DNA
- complementary medicine
- correlate
- correlative
- counter-
- cyan
- DNA
- green
- group
- job sharing
- magenta
- negative
- primary colour
- red
- supplementary angle
- yellow
- Yin and Yang
- allograph
- antibody
- anticodon
- antisense
- cocurricular
- color circle
- color wheel
- complement
- complemental
- complementarity
- complementary base
- complementary cells
- complementary color
- complementary distribution
- complementary strand
- complementation
- complete
- contraplete
- counter
- DNA probe
- double helix
- exalt
- free variation