compliment

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.

He was a keen student of dialect; doing movies in the South, he meandered down backroads, learning just the right way to frame a question in rural Mississippi or deliver a compliment in west Texas.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

Granit: I don't know if it's a compliment.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

We thought we owed him the opportunity after our criticism of his tariffs, and we’ll pay him the additional compliment of parsing his claims.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

That No 10 feels the need to criticise the Greens is a backhanded compliment that shows they matter.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026

“It’s a girl. She very seldom cries,” she said, handing the baby to me, and as if to earn the compliment it immediately quietened down.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya