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Complimentary vs Phatic - What's the difference?

complimentary | phatic |

As adjectives the difference between complimentary and phatic

is that complimentary is in the nature of a compliment while phatic is (linguistics) pertaining to words used to convey any kind of social relationship eg polite mood, rather than meaning; for example, "how are you?" is often not a literal question but is said only as a greeting (similarly, a response such as "fine" is often not an accurate answer, but merely an acknowledgement of the greeting).

complimentary

English

(wikipedia complimentary)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • In the nature of a compliment.
  • * , The Letters of Mark Twain, Vol. 3 (published 2004) p. 56.
    • But yesterday evening late, when Lewis arrived from down town he found his supper spread, and some presents of books there, with very complimentary' writings on the fly-leaves, and certain very ' complimentary letters, and more or less greenbacks of dignified denomination pinned to those letters and fly-leaves...
  • Free; provided at no charge.
  • * Vivien Lougheed, Belize Pocket Adventures (2005), p. 65.
    • In the evenings, Ward and PJ offer guests a complimentary drink. This gesture seems to reinforce the hosts' desire to make everyone feel welcome.
  • With respect to the closing of a letter, formal and professional.
  • * Richard H. Beatty, The Perfect Cover Letter (2003).
    • The complimentary closing is the word grouping used to bring the message or text to a close.

    Usage notes

    * Complimentary and complementary are frequently confused and misused in place of one another.

    Antonyms

    * uncomplimentary

    Derived terms

    * complimentarily * complimentariness

    phatic

    English

    (wikipedia phatic)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (linguistics) Pertaining to words used to convey any kind of social relationship e.g polite mood, rather than meaning; for example, "How are you?" is often not a literal question but is said only as a greeting. (Similarly, a response such as "Fine" is often not an accurate answer, but merely an acknowledgement of the greeting.)
  • * 1978 , Anthony Burgess, 1985 :
    • Generally speaking, statements in WE are expected to be of a tautologous nature, thus fulfilling the essential phatic nature of speech.
  • * 2006 , Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day , Vintage 2007, p. 467:
    • Dispensing with phatic chitchat, he began straightaway to tell the story of his “people.”

    See also

    * emphatic * platitude

    Anagrams

    * *