The Collaborative International Dictionary
Complementary \Com`ple*men"ta*ry\, a. Serving to fill out or to complete; as, complementary numbers.
Complementary colors. See under Color.
Complementary angles (Math.), two angles whose sum is 90[deg].
Wikipedia
Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined, cancel each other out. This means that when combined, they produce a grey-scale color like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those particular two colors. Due to this striking color clash, the term opposite colors is often considered more appropriate than "complementary colors".
Which pairs of colors are considered complementary depends on the color theory one uses:
- Modern color theory uses either the RGB additive color model or the CMY subtractive color model, and in these, the complementary pairs are red– cyan, green– magenta, and blue– yellow.
- In the traditional RYB color model, the complementary color pairs are red– green, yellow– violet, and blue– orange, though these pairings fail the modern definition of complementary colors, as they produce a brown color when combined.
- Opponent process theory suggests that the most contrasting color pairs are red–green, and blue–yellow.
Usage examples of "complementary colors".
The adjoining edges of neighboring tiles bore complementary colors--to represent the complementary, interlocking shapes of the borders of the building blocks.
The adjoining edges of neighboring tiles bore complementary colors-to represent the complementary, interlocking shapes of the borders of the building blocks.
The adjoining edges of neighboring tiles bore complementary colors—.
There had been one tidy box-hedged maze with a lover's seat at the center, and rows and rows of flowers carefully arrayed in complementary colors.
He wore gaudy clothes--a shirt with false sleeves, parti-colored pants, a vest and half cape with cowl, in a rainbow of complementary colors.
Impressionism is the art of tricking the eye into seeing shadows by using complementary colors to increase contrast rather than using the black shadows and the white light of the old masters.
Grown men and women seem to think a red plaid and a pink floral print are complementary colors.
It is tied with two ribbons of silk gauze in complementary colors.
In physics the typical complementary colors are blue and yellow, and red and green.
Groups of elements formed a grammar based on complementary colors.
A sceptic who adheres to a believer is as simple as the law of complementary colors.