Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or depending on the disposition, temperament, or nature; constitutional.
  • Pertaining to the hue or color.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to constitutional complexion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Relating to complexion.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

complexion +‎ -al

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Examples

  • In simplicity, in gentleness, in rectitude, in delicacy of mind, and in all the particulars of what may be termed complexional harmony and healthiness of nature, -- in these they are as much twins as in birth and feature.

    Shakespeare: His Life, Art, And Characters, Volume I. With An Historical Sketch Of The Origin And Growth Of The Drama In England Henry Norman Hudson 1850

  • In simplicity, in gentleness, in rectitude, in delicacy of mind, and in all the particulars of what may be termed complexional harmony and healthiness of nature, ” in these they are as much twins as in birth and feature.

    Shakespeare His Life Art And Characters Hudson, H N 1872

  • Arlack possessed a most splendid squint with both eyes, so that it was often observed he would make a capital cook, as he could always keep one eye on the pot while he surveyed the intricacies of the chimney with the other; and, to complete the catalogue of his complexional recommendations, his face was absolutely furrowed, seamed and gashed until it had nearly lost a human shape by the pitiless assaults of the smallpox.

    Ralph Rashleigh 2004

  • Absolutely pure, delicately medicated, exquisitely perfumed, CUTICURA SOAP produces the whitest, clearest skin and softest hands, and prevents inflammation and clogging of the pores, the cause of pimples, blackheads and most complexional disfigurations, while it admits of no comparison with the best of other skin soaps, and rivals in delicacy the most noted and expensive of toilet and nursery soaps.

    Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XIII, Nov. 28, 1891 Various

  • Some whose natural endowments would, under less unpropitious circumstances, qualify them to reach the summit of fame, are fettered by want of patronage and pecuniary distress, while others are cramped in their efforts by a complexional sensibility which they cannot overcome, and checked in enterprise by diffidence and timidity, the natural offspring of a refined and delicate structure.

    The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 5, May 1810

  • It may serve, as it often has, to rouse the indolent from the gratification of complexional sloth, and recall the unthinking and irregular from the haunts of dissipation and vice to the blessings of serious reflection.

    The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor Volume I, Number 1

  • Some people deny that there is any standard of female beauty; and, at any rate, there is no doubt but that habits and associations, as well as complexional and sentimental considerations, interfere more with our perceptions in respect to this than any other object of taste.

    The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 267, August 4, 1827 Various

  • This fact came to the public ear, and the trustees of the poorhouse, in accordance with their own convictions and in compliance with the complexional prejudices of the community, discharged the Quaker for this breach of the law.

    History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2 (of 2) Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens George Washington Williams

  • Accordingly, he applied at several, but as often as he applied he was refused employment on the ground of complexional prejudice.

    History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2 (of 2) Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens George Washington Williams

  • A politic caution, a guarded circumspection, a moral rather than a complexional timidity, were among the ruling principles of our forefathers in their most decided conduct.

    Paras. 375-407 1909

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