What does "complete" mean?
A completed survey.
Complete
/kəmˈpliːt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A completed survey.
- Grammar: complete is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: fill in, fill out, finish, abide by.
- Useful contrasts: damaged, incomplete, abasic.
- Usage evidence: It's a complete mess, and it's getting on my nerves.
How to use "complete"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "complete" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "complete" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "complete" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "complete" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "complete" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "fill in" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "complete", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A completed survey.
"“If SSI says we're going to get two completes an hour, the sample will yield two Qualifieds to do the survey with us.”"
Verb
- 1 To finish; to make done; to reach the end. ambitransitive
"He completed the assignment on time."
- 2 bring to a whole, with all the necessary parts or elements wordnet
- 3 To make whole or entire. transitive
"The last chapter completes the book nicely."
- 4 come or bring to a finish or an end wordnet
- 5 To call from the small blind in an unraised pot.
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 write all the required information onto a form wordnet
- 7 complete a pass wordnet
- 8 complete or carry out wordnet
Adjective
- 1 With all parts included; with nothing missing; full.
"My life will be complete once I buy this new television."
- 2 Finished; ended; concluded; completed.
"When your homework is complete, you can go and play with Martin."
- 3 Generic intensifier.
"He is a complete bastard!"
- 4 In which every Cauchy sequence converges to a point within the space.
- 5 Complete as a topological group with respect to its m-adic topology, where m is its unique maximal idea.
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 In which every set with a lower bound has a greatest lower bound.
- 7 In which all small limits exist.
- 8 In which every semantically valid well-formed formula is provable.
"Gödel's first incompleteness theorem showed that Principia could not be both consistent and complete. According to the theorem, for every sufficiently powerful logical system (such as Principia), there exists a statement G that essentially reads, "The statement G cannot be proved." Such a statement is a sort of Catch-22: if G is provable, then it is false, and the system is therefore inconsistent; and if G is not provable, then it is true, and the system is therefore incomplete.ᵂᴾ"
- 9 That is in a given complexity class and is such that every other problem in the class can be reduced to it (usually in polynomial time or logarithmic space).
"QMA arises naturally in the study of quantum computation, and it also has a complete problem, Local Hamiltonian, which is a generalization of k-SAT."
Adjective
- 1 having every necessary or normal part or component or step wordnet
- 2 having come or been brought to a conclusion wordnet
- 3 without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers wordnet
- 4 perfect and complete in every respect; having all necessary qualities wordnet
- 5 highly skilled wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"It's a complete mess, and it's getting on my nerves."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "complete"?
Common synonyms include: fill in, fill out, finish, abide by, abject, absolute.
How do you use "complete" in a sentence?
It's a complete mess, and it's getting on my nerves.
How do you pronounce "complete"?
Pronounced /kəmˈpliːt/.
Etymology
From Middle English compleet (“full, complete”), borrowed from Old French complet or Latin completus, past participle of compleō (“I fill up, I complete”) (whence also complement, compliment), from com- + pleō (“I fill, I fulfill”) (whence also deplete, replete, plenty), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”) (English full).