TOEIC Link Part 5: complacent versus complaisant
Complacent and complaisant look almost identical and share a Latin root about pleasing, so test-takers treat them as spellings of one word — but they carry different, even opposing, tones. Complacent is an adjective meaning smugly satisfied and unaware of danger. Complaisant is an adjective meaning eager to please and willing to accommodate others. Part 5 drops one into a sentence where the attitude of the blank is the whole question. For the wider set of look-alike traps, start with the commonly confused word pairs master index.
The core rule: self-satisfied versus obliging
- complacent = self-satisfied to the point of ignoring problems or risks (adjective). After three strong quarters, the team grew complacent and missed the shift in demand. / Regulators warned the bank against a complacent attitude toward fraud. It answers who is dangerously overconfident? and almost always carries a negative, cautionary tone. Link complacent to smug and overconfident: it signals a false sense of security.
- complaisant = willing to please others; agreeable and accommodating (adjective). A complaisant host adjusted the menu to suit every guest. / The supplier was complaisant, agreeing to each revised deadline. It answers who is eager to cooperate? and describes obliging, easygoing behavior. Link complaisant to obliging and accommodating: it signals a readiness to go along.
The key difference: complacent describes someone too pleased with themselves to act, while complaisant describes someone eager to please someone else. One turns inward as smugness; the other turns outward as cooperation. If the blank warns about overconfidence, choose complacent; if it praises accommodating behavior, choose complaisant.
Why Part 5 likes this pair
Because both adjectives descend from words about pleasing, the shared root invites a wrong guess. Part 5 sets a scene where either self-satisfaction or eagerness-to-please could plausibly fit, then rewards the reader who catches the tone.
Despite the warning signs, management remained __ about the aging equipment.
A word describing dangerous overconfidence needs complacent.
The new coordinator was so __ that she rearranged the schedule for every request.
A word describing an eager, accommodating attitude needs complaisant.
Spotting the clue
Decide whether the blank describes overconfidence or cooperativeness:
- Is the subject too satisfied to notice risk or effort still needed (paired with warnings, complacency, missed threats)? → choose complacent (grow complacent, a complacent attitude, dangerously complacent).
- Is the subject eager to please and go along with others (paired with requests, guests, or flexibility)? → choose complaisant (a complaisant manner, remain complaisant, a complaisant partner).
A quick test: can you replace the blank with smug or overconfident? Then it is complacent. Can you replace it with obliging or accommodating? Then it is complaisant. Watch the surrounding tone too — complacent travels with warnings and risk, while complaisant travels with service and cooperation. Because both are adjectives whose polarity is easy to misjudge, this pair sits alongside other look-alike traps such as discreet versus discrete.
Common Part 5 patterns
- Anything warning about overconfidence wants complacent: become complacent, a complacent market, guard against being complacent.
- Anything praising cooperation wants complaisant: a complaisant supplier, remain complaisant, a complaisant response.
- Context cue: risks, warnings, and missed threats lean complacent; requests, flexibility, and service lean complaisant.
If the blank describes a smug, risk-blind attitude, choose complacent. If it describes an eager-to-please, obliging manner, choose complaisant.
Quick recap
- complacent = smugly self-satisfied and unaware of danger (adjective) — steady profits made the board complacent.
- complaisant = eager to please and accommodating (adjective) — the complaisant vendor met every changed request.
- Ask whether the blank warns about overconfidence (complacent) or praises cooperation (complaisant).
When a Part 5 blank turns on whether an attitude is smug or obliging, let the surrounding cues decide: warnings point to complacent, and accommodation points to complaisant. For more near-identical pairs that hinge on a single shift in meaning, see the deprecate versus depreciate pair and the full commonly confused word pairs master index.