Complaisant

They cannot rightly be called complaisant, since they do not know, but they are good creatures who cannot see farther than their nose. ❋ Guy De Maupassant (1871)

If "complaisant" was not the very last word that came to mind at the thought of Jamie Fraser, it was certainly well down toward the bottom of the list. ❋ Gabaldon, Diana (1992)

If he do this with the mere intention of pleasing he is said to be "complaisant," according to the Philosopher (Ethic. iv, 6): whereas if he do it with the intention of making some gain out of it, he is called a "flatterer" or "adulator." ❋ Aquinas Thomas (N/A)

There is no good thing which knowledge does not comprehend -- Mêden estin agathon ho ouk epistêmê periechei + -- a strenuously [84] ascertained knowledge however, painfully adjusted to other forms of knowledge which may seem inconsistent with it, and impenetrably distinct from any kind of complaisant or only half-attentive conjecture. ❋ Walter Pater (1866)

He is a sort of 'complaisant' of the President Montesquieu, to whom you have a letter. ❋ Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield (1733)

From what you have just told me, your mother has got the idea, that your husband is what is called a complaisant husband.” ❋ Simenon, Georges, 1903- (1951)

Actually acourding to my thesaurus it is but no matter feel free to subsutute any of the following terms if you like. circumscribed, limited, restricted, tractable, accountable, complaisant, compliant, restricted, submissive, yielding the result is the same in any case. ❋ Unknown (2009)

He made his move when local government in England was at its most complaisant – led by Tories who put party loyalty first and preoccupied by cuts in spending. ❋ Unknown (2011)

The Republicans have become so complaisant with the horribe greed mentality that they themselves can't shake it. ❋ Unknown (2009)

Who cared for tradition in these days, when spirits could be evoked from black bottles, and black bottles could be evoked from the complaisant white men for a few hours 'sweat or a mangy fur? ❋ Unknown (2010)

Watch for his replacement by a complaisant government puppet, and a speedy and unsatisfactory end to the MPCC's foredoomed investigation. ❋ Unknown (2009)

He paints a sobering, though anecdotal, picture of poverty, oppression, corruption and deceit, mostly ignored by a complaisant West. ❋ Unknown (2010)

Police, whether federal, provincial or municipal (and the RCMP actually plays all three roles in various jurisdictions), are generally unaccountable to the public whom they are supposed to serve and protect, watched over by toothless and/or complaisant oversight groups and literally able, as we have seen recently, to get away with homicide. ❋ Unknown (2009)

The play's deft structure has the cast play double roles; Sarah Goldberg and Lorna Brown are outstanding in Act 2 as complaisant but steely Lindsey and acid-tongued Lena, who is unable to disguise her loathing for her yuppie counterpart. ❋ Unknown (2011)

If by “intelligent,” you mean “ambitious and complaisant,” then yes. ❋ Unknown (2010)

But Koch, Valero, Shell, and TransCanada gambled that the complaisant, all-oil-24/7 regulatory regime of the Bush administration would still be in place for their project. ❋ Carl Pope (2011)

All the years of their marriage she had been ever complaisant toward him in his card-playing. ❋ Unknown (2010)

The Duke really looked much more at ease than he did at any time during the celebration week, whilst the Lieutenant-Governor looked far more complaisant than in his regimentals. ❋ Unknown (2009)