plaintiff
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of plaintiff
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English plaintif “complaining person,” noun use of the adjective; see plaintive
Explanation
In a courtroom, the plaintiff is the person or group who is accusing another person or group of some wrongdoing. If you’re the plaintiff, you are claiming that a law was broken, and you’re in court to present your case. The plaintiff accuses, the defendant tries to prove that accusation wrong. You’ve seen this relationship on television shows about lawyers, or maybe you’ve been to court yourself. The Old French root word translates as “complain” and the Latin root is literally “beating of the breast,” or explaining your grief in a dramatic way. Plaintiff shares roots with the adjective plaintive, which describes a sorrowful sound. The plaintiff made a plaintive cry when the defendant was declared not guilty.
Vocabulary lists containing plaintiff
Twelve Days in May
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A Tale of Two Cities
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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
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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.
Plaintiff attorneys never let a cultural problem go to waste.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
“It is undisputed that California substantive law mandates the award of title here to the Cassirer family, as Lilly’s heirs, of which Plaintiff David Cassirer is the last surviving member,” Cassirer’s attorneys wrote.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 17, 2025
Plaintiff Jay Aliff sued in 2021 after his river-front cabin south of Lake Tahoe was damaged by the Mountain View fire in November 2020.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2025
Plaintiff states would also incur substantially more costs to get them enrolled, as Feigenbaum argued.
From Slate • May 19, 2025
You must take into account the position in life of the Defendant, and what the Plaintiff has lost by his default.
From Bardell v. Pickwick by Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington
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.
