complexion means the quality, colour, or appearance of the skin on the face. It carries an Arena rating of 1624, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, complexion ranks #2,680 of 17,052 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #2,891 of 17,052 for Most Malleable Words, #2,902 of 17,055 for Most Beautiful Words, #6,126 of 17,058 for Most Vivid Words.
complexion is pronounced /kəmˈplɛkʃən/.
Why “complexion” is a great word
The natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially of the face, as a unified whole. From Middle English complexion ('temperament'), from Old French complexion, from Medieval Latin complexiō ('constitution, temperament'), from Latin complector, past participle complexus ('to entwine, encompass'). Unlike 'skin tone,' which isolates the chromatic aspect, or 'disposition,' which now refers to character alone, complexion preserves the ancient conviction that surface and substance are inseparably entwined. It is the sun-burnished, grain-leathered cheek of a farmer; the cool, polished alabaster of a portrait miniature; the dewy, translucent bloom on a child's forehead—the silent map of a life’s weatherings, a living testament to the body’s constant, subtle shifts beneath the surface.
Etymology
From Middle English complexion (“temperament”), from Old French complexion (French complexion), from Medieval Latin complexiō (“complexion, constitution”), from complector, past participle complexus (“to entwine, encompass”).
noun
- The quality, colour, or appearance of the skin on the face.e.g.“a rugged complexion”
- The outward appearance of something.e.g.“It was a little unfortunate that the fib unfibbed gave their consultations something the complexion of that close understanding which exists between penitent and confessor.”
- Outlook, attitude, or point of view.e.g.“That minister was galbet, or admiral of the realm, very much in his master’s confidence, and a person well versed in affairs, but of a morose and sour complexion.”
- The combination of humours making up one's physiological "temperament", being either hot or cold, and moist or dry.e.g.“Ne ever is he wont on ought to feed / But todes and frogs, his pasture poysonous, / Which in his cold complexion doe breed / A filthy blood […]”
- An arrangement.
verb
- To give a colour to.e.g.“From the pale refinement of her genteel heroine to the sallow complexioning of poor white trash, Stowe colors her narrative with the hues of the body.”
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