complain
Americanverb (used without object)
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complains,
present (3rd person singular)
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complained,
past participle, past
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complaining
present participle
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to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or grief; find fault.
He complained constantly about the noise in the corridor.
- Antonyms:
- rejoice
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to tell of one's pains, ailments, etc..
to complain of a backache.
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to make a formal accusation.
If you think you've been swindled, complain to the police.
verb
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to express resentment, displeasure, etc, esp habitually; grumble
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(foll by of) to state the presence of pain, illness, etc, esp in the hope of sympathy
she complained of a headache
Synonym Usage
Complain, grumble, growl, whine are terms for expressing dissatisfaction or discomfort. To complain is to protest against or lament a wrong: to complain about high prices. To grumble is to utter ill-natured complaints half to oneself: to grumble about the service. Growl may express more anger than grumble : to growl in reply to a question. To whine is to complain in a meanspirited way, using a nasal tone: to whine like a coward, like a spoiled child.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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complainernoun
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complainableadjective
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uncomplainedadjective
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uncomplainingadjective
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complaininglyadverb
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uncomplaininglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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complainsimple
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complainssimple
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have complainedperfect
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has complainedperfect
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am complainingprogressive
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are complainingprogressive
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is complainingprogressive
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have been complainingperfect progressive
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has been complainingperfect progressive
Past
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complainedsimple
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had complainedperfect
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was complainingprogressive
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were complainingprogressive
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had been complainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of complain
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English compleinen, from Anglo-French compleign-, stem of compleindre, Old French complaindre, from Vulgar Latin complangere (unrecorded), from Latin com- com- + plangere “to beat, lament, strike”; see plaint
Explanation
To complain is to express your unhappiness about something. You might complain to your landlord about a raise in your rent, or to the cops about your noisy neighbors. Just don't whine; it won't get you anywhere. Speakers of Yiddish will know that complain is often interchangeable with kvetch, which is what you do when you don't like the food or the small portions. But you can complain in a more formal way by, say, writing a letter or even filing a lawsuit. But whether the issue is large or small, do yourself a favor and don't complain too often, or people might stop taking you seriously.
Vocabulary lists containing complain
"The Railway Train" by Emily Dickinson
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Shiloh
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more."
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
She’ll complain about me needing to find a secretary before rattling off the results, links to Slate articles and a recent award.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
MLB fans like to complain the Dodgers are ruining baseball, but many other teams could have met the price the Dodgers paid to acquire Tarik Skubal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
But families complain about the cost of living and the fiscal deficit is worsening.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
I get another pinch on the cheek, but I don’t complain.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
He complains that lower-income Americans struggle to access doctors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The agreement comes as Panama complains its boats are suffering tighter controls in China, following the cancellation of a Hong Kong company's concession to operate two ports in the Panama Canal.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
When Joe complains and threatens to bring up the noise, Angela all but begs him to put on a smile and let it go, just for this one night.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Bill Plaschke’s column criticizing Caitlin Clark as a whiny, entitled player who constantly complains to officials and her coach would be laughable if not so hypocritical.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2026
Every now and again a language grump complains that the distinction between adverbs and adjectives is disappearing from English.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
At 30, Engels finally took a job at one of his father’s companies, where he complained that “I’ve now got to be at the office no later than 10 in the morning.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Carlitos Ricardo Parias had long complained to his family about the quality of drinking water at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
One firefighter from the Bordeaux suburb of Merignac complained of the confusing orders handed down by his higher-ups.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
While in the Hebrides, Margerison also filmed an angry encounter with an elderly couple in a supermarket after they complained that he had "loudly and rudely" asked them to move out of his way.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Just that morning his uncle had complained to his aunt that he couldn’t get an envelope he needed because it was in the den where the boy was sleeping.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Boston actually welcomed something instead of complaining about it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Under the slogan "We are unbearable," it launched an advert showing fans from different teams sitting in a therapy circle complaining about Argentines' unbridled passion for football.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
“Here I am complaining about the robots, but I’m not doing the human part of it as much as I need to be,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
He called the emergency services at 17:55, complaining that he was struggling to breathe and felt like he was going to collapse.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
She had been complaining about being dehydrated for at least an hour and human life meant the possibility of water.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
