What does complexion mean?
Word: Complexion
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Complexion means the natural colour and look of the skin on a person's face. It can also mean the general nature of a situation.
Synonyms: skin tone
How do you spell complexion?
Syllables: com - plex - ion
Tricky part: The ending is the trap. The sound before ion is written with an x alone, so complection and complextion are both wrong.
Watch out for: complection, complextion, complecsion
Memory tip: Picture a mirror with a big X drawn on it: one x, with no t or c standing beside it.
Complexion in a sentence
Example 1: Actors wear make-up to even out their complexion under the bright stage lights.
Example 2: The painter mixed three shades before the portrait's complexion looked right.
Example 3: Grandma puts her clear complexion down to years of walking in the morning sun.
Fun Fact
Complexion once had little to do with skin. In medieval times it meant the mix of qualities thought to shape a person's nature, and the face was read as a sign of that mix.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
commplexion
a) p
b) l
c) m
d) x
Show answer
c) m. Only one m comes before the p.
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
Two weeks of mountain air left Anjali with a rosy iomxnocpel and a big appetite.
a) complexion
b) complexity
c) competition
d) completion
Show answer
a) complexion. The x rules out completion and competition, and complexity would leave the n unused.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word complexion as used in the sentence:
A late goal changed the whole complexion of the match.
a) character
b) venue
c) timing
d) length
Show answer
a) character. Here the word means what the match was like overall, so character fits and the other three do not.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. eyelashs 2. complexion 3. freckels 4. appearence
a) the way someone or something looks
b) the look and colouring of the skin
c) small brown spots on the skin
d) the short hairs along the edges of the eyes
Show answer
b) the look and colouring of the skin. Appearance has an a before the nce, eyelashes takes es and freckles ends in les.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these habits is most likely to improve a person's complexion?
a) wearing well-fitting shoes
b) sitting up straight at a desk
c) sleeping well and drinking water
d) doing sums in your head
Show answer
c) sleeping well and drinking water
2. Which of these adjectives goes naturally before complexion?
a) talkative
b) healthy
c) punctual
d) generous
Show answer
b) healthy
