How to use complexion in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Complexion means the quality, colour, or appearance of the skin on the face. Example: “If you have a reddish complexion, you should mainly wear cool colors.”

Examples of complexion by meaning

nounThe quality, colour, or appearance of the skin on the face.

a rugged complexion
a sunburnt complexion
In complexion fair, and with blue or gray eyes, he was tall as any Viking, as broad in the shoulder.1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

nounThe outward appearance of something.

It was a little unfortunate that the fib unfibbed gave their consultations something the complexion of that close understanding which exists between penitent and confessor.1910, Bernard Capes, Why Did He Do It?, page 207

nounOutlook, attitude, or point of view.

The feminist complexion of NOLAG was shown in the Spring Conference in Los Angeles when the organization went so far as to reject a moderately worded resolution in favor of sexual freedom.1982 February 13, Wayne Dynes, “Unnatural”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 4

verbTo give a colour to.

From the pale refinement of her genteel heroine to the sallow complexioning of poor white trash, Stowe colors her narrative with the hues of the body.2003, Leland Krauth, Mark Twain & Company: Six Literary Relations, page 118

More sentences with complexion

If you have a reddish complexion, you should mainly wear cool colors.From the entry cool
Her smooth complexion and dark hair belie her actual age.From the entry belie
My brother had a palish complexion.From the entry palish
PETRA: Is a ravenous and deranged fish-eyed monster with a sickly complexion on Whisper Isle.2017, H.S. Crow, Lunora and the Monster King, →ISBN, page 8. From the entry fish-eyed
The third man, of average height, with a dark complexion, nudged his companions.1993 June, David Brin, Glory Season, New York, NY: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 58. From the entry virgie
With his swarthy complexion and jet black, straight hair, Louis was actually quite dashing.1990, Paul Levy, Finger lickin' good: a Kentucky childhood. From the entry y'all
She has a blond complexion, with brown hair and gray eyes.1914, “American Anthropologist”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name). From the entry blond
Her one Monroe piercing accentuated her face, the small diamond adding a slight sparkle to her flawless complexion.2016, Kel Fulgham, chapter 12, in Walk of the Claimed, Xlibris, →ISBN. From the entry Monroe piercing
I want foundation by the latest maker, but it’s all too ashen or ruddy for my brown, yellow-undertoned complexion.2011, Erin Aubry Kaplan, Black Talk, Blue Thoughts and Walking the Color Line: Dispatches From a Black Journalista, Boston: Northeastern…. From the entry undertoned
Therefore, African Americans complexion range from fair to mahogony.2010, Delores J. Dillard, Papua, New Guinea, 1983, page 27. From the entry chocolate
Messy, those poor sickees staggered around the ship, easily identifiable from their sponged-off shirts 86 blouses and ashen complexions.2007, Ramon Carver, Best and Worst Travels, page 2. From the entry sickee
There are signs of liver affections as weakness, yellow complexion, liver spots, and moth spot like a saddle over the nose.2005, J. D. Patil, Textbook of Applied Materia Medica, →ISBN, page 108. From the entry moth
Her complexion was pale, except for the apple-red of her cheeks and a spritz of freckles dotting her pug nose.2003, Jerilyn A. DePete, chapter 7, in Thin Air, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 72. From the entry apple-red
Kevin hung fire where he was, staring at Chaney's body with dilated eyes and a slowly greening complexion.1993, Dana Stabenow, A Fatal Thaw, →ISBN, page 132. From the entry hang fire
Some we already knew, like Casimir Ava the tragic actor with his pale eunuchoid-velvet complexion and studied poses.1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 105. From the entry eunuchoid
Nurse Cramer had a cute nose and a radiant, blooming complexion dotted with fetching sprays of adorable freckles that Yossarian detested.1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 171. From the entry freckle
Their complexion was lustreless and clammy, although Aunt Evelyn's odd man had given them all the energy of his elbow.1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin, published 2013, page 86. From the entry odd man
Well, few of us are blessed with flawless complexions such as yours, so if you want to go au naturel, that's fine by me.2013, Laura Lascarso, Counting Backwards, New York, N.Y.: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 134. From the entry au naturel
The very success of the ‘neo-liberal’ agenda, embraced to a greater or lesser extent by governments of all complexions, has created an incipient political monster.2011, Guy Standing, chapter 1, in The Precariat, Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2016, →ISBN. From the entry neo-liberal
Her short, spiky hair now had a green tinge and her complexion, once a soft peaches and cream hue, was now a cream-cheesy colour.2010, Deirdre O’Brien, The Adventures of Monkey and Me, Drogheda: Choice Publishing Ltd., →ISBN, page 24. From the entry cream-cheesy
But aslant this particular glass reclined a single, white, wintry rose, possibly the last rose ever, its invalid complexion infused with a delicate transcendent green.1979, Patrick White, “Part II”, in The Twyborn Affair […], London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 209. From the entry aslant
“All except your complexion,” he denote.1924 March 23, Wallace Irwin, “Letters Of A Japanese Schoolboy: Togo Prefers His Own Style Of Beauty”, in The Sun, volume 24, number 12D…. From the entry afraidly
His complexion had darkened, sallowed; his black moustache had lost boldness, become sardonic; there were lines which she did not know about his face.1920, John Galsworthy, “‘Here We are Again!’”, in In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga; 2), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part II, page 225. From the entry sallow
The general pinkness of complexion and furbelows, the jimpness of the long trim waist, the uncompromising bands of black velvet, the showers of fair ringlets.1917, Flora Annie Webster Steel, Marmaduke, page 19. From the entry jimpness
They require a description of the physical features of each child, such as color of hair, color of eyes, complexion, height, etc.1912, William F. Ogburn, “Progress and Uniformity in Child-labor Legislation: A Study in Statistical Measurement”, in Studies in History…. From the entry working papers
Her complexion was of an unhealthy yellowish hue, and a few wisps of the same yellowish-hued hair straggled stringily down her thin temples.1903, McClure's Magazine. From the entry stringily
She noticed that Flora's complexion was off, but she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the novel sight of Rio holding Flora in a princess carry.2020, Yuri Kitayama, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Volume 8, J-Novel Club, →ISBN. From the entry princess carry
Or was she the type that may have been insecure about her dark complexion in the age of redbone skin tones, yellow models, 'long hair don't care'.2012, Richard Warren Crosson, Souljastory@itrilla.com: Too Hot for Urban Lit, volume 1. From the entry long hair don't care
And she’d slathered a heavy layer of foundation over the raw skin of her face with the end result being a complexion that was more tomato than orange.2011, Jackie Braun, “Most Focused”, in Mr. Right There All Along (Harlequin Romance, #4258; The Fun Factor), Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin…. From the entry tomato
Each nationalist struggle assumed the complexion of a Communist versus non-Communist conflict rather than one between a colonial imperium and a subjugate indigenous population intent on their independence.2010, James M. Volo, A History of War Resistance in America, Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood, →ISBN, page 17. From the entry subjugate
By this I do not, of course, mean the abandonment of the fact that many Christians are 'white', or, more accurately, pinko-grey, in their physical complexion.2005, Kenneth Leech, Race, page 99. From the entry pinko-grey
It is impossible to suppose that a State of Russia's power and antecedents would tolerate a privileged community (of, to Russia, unnational complexion) within the body of the Empire.1905, Joseph Conrad, Notes on Life and Letters. From the entry unnational
He had a fresh complexion, eyes of that common uncertain shade of gray, and was closely shaven except for the incipient muttonchops on his ruddy cheeks.1905, Willa Cather, “The Marriage of Phaedra”, in Troll Garden. From the entry muttonchop
But Birmingham were clearly stung by some harsh words from manager Alex McLeish at the break and within 15 minutes of the restart the game had an entirely different complexion.2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC. From the entry sting

Meaning of complexion

noun The quality, colour, or appearance of the skin on the face.
noun The outward appearance of something.
noun Outlook, attitude, or point of view.

Full definition of complexion

Questions about complexion in a sentence

How do you use complexion in a sentence?: Complexion is used as a noun and verb. For example: “If you have a reddish complexion, you should mainly wear cool colors.”
What is a short sentence with complexion?: “a rugged complexion”
What does complexion mean?: Complexion means the quality, colour, or appearance of the skin on the face.

Adapted from Wiktionary: complexion (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use complexion in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/complexion. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.