complain
Americanverb (used without object)
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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.
-
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
Related Words
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
- complainable adjective
- complainer noun
- complainingly adverb
- uncomplained adjective
- uncomplaining adjective
- uncomplainingly adverb
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”; plaint
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.
