Talk:complete
Latest comment: 2 years ago by Equinox in topic Noun definition
Which one of these is correct?
{{en-adj}}
or
{{en-adj|completer|completest}}
Or both? Dart evader 09:45, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
- More/most only. --Connel MacKenzie 21:50, 13 September 2007 (UTC)
It's both. Comparative and superlative forms can be created by the addition of premodifiers most/more as well as by the addition of -er/-est.
E x
— This comment was unsigned.
- Neither is correct. The adjective complete has no comparative or superlative form because it is a binary-state adjective rather than one of degree. --EncycloPetey 02:21, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
- Nonsense. "The British Museum has a more complete collection than any museum in the US" is perfectly standard English. If you want more literary examples:
- "No advancement was ever more rapid, no exaltation more complete, no bewilderment more teachable." (Henry James)
- "Never was a victory more complete." (Sir Walter Scott)
- "She wanted more vigorous measures, a more complete reformation, a quicker release from debt..." (Jane Austen)
- "...heightened the repulsion between him and his neighbours, and made his isolation more complete..." (George Eliot)
- "A more complete picture of terror than the little man presented, it would be difficult to imagine." (Charles Dickens)
- "Never did any bird flying back to a plundered nest, which it had left brimful of chirping young ones, express more complete despair, in its anguished cries..." (Emily Bronte)
- And that's just with "more". You may not like the construction, but a dictionary should include it.
— This comment was unsigned.
Kept. See archived discussion of February 2008. 07:16, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
Noun definition
[edit]The noun usage here is attested by very few instances, and is not found in any dictionaries. Why do we think that this is an actual word, rather than somebody just making a mistake or trying to coin a new word, or jargon? DJ Clayworth (talk) 19:12, 11 November 2022 (UTC)
- @DJ Clayworth: Jargon words are words. All words were newly coined at one point. We document them. Equinox ◑ 19:21, 11 November 2022 (UTC)