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I've encountered these words numerous times in articles I read over the web. But still I haven't exactly understood how they differ.

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    – ColleenV
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 19:27

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"Complementary" means "completing or going together well with" something else.

"Supplementary" means "adding to" something else.

"Complementary" implies a stronger relationship between two things, whereas "supplementary" just means that one thing is additional or auxiliary to another.

A complementary relationship is usually bidirectional and exclusive. Red and green are complementary colors of each other, and no other colors are the complements of either red or green.

A supplementary relationship is not exclusive and often directional. One could say that an appendix is supplementary to a manuscript, but one would not say that a manuscript is supplementary to the appendix, and there may be several supplementary appendices.

An article discussing the advantages of some software may be complementary to an article discussing the disadvantages, but a third article listing places to purchase the software would be better described as supplementary.

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    Per comment above, I'm not convinced about that "stronger relationship" point (though I'm not convinced the opposite applies either; they're just "different" relationships).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 18:54
  • @FumbleFingers I actually posted this answer specifically in contrast to your comment. I do think that "complementary" should be (and usually is) limited to bidirectional and often exclusive relationships (complementary colors etc.), where "supplementary" implies neither reciprocity nor exclusivity. One could describe an appendix as a supplement to a manuscript, but to call a manuscript a supplement to an appendix would be odd.
    – Tashus
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 19:18
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    @Tashus saying "the manuscript was supplementary to its appendix" sounds like a typically acerbic British book critique. :-)
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 20:59

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