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:
But it also comes as free press advocates complain that the department’s responsiveness to public records requests has slowed, and as officers increasingly face accusations of targeting journalists in the field during protests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
"I can't complain about the support this area is being given, but more support is always welcome," she says.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Do you and your friends discuss your savings, debt and salary, or do you just complain about how expensive brunch has gotten and send the same $20 back and forth to each other on Venmo?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
On social media, posts complain that stores are using AI in combination with digital shelf tags to track shoppers’ interest and make sudden or personalized price changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
“Too bad Mama won’t help us,” I complain.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
“We have no services and no one complains or does anything about it, because everyone just got used to this crap,” said Aracelis Urdaneta, who grew up here during the oil boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
"All the equipment has been almost completely destroyed. There are no windows left, and there are holes in the roofs. The blast furnaces have been almost completely ruined," Maksyshko complains.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
She is in her late 70s and complains of nagging aches and pains, neuropathy, fatigue, anxiety, and occasional changes in her weight.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
China’s Xi Jinping complains that AI should be “a symphony of international cooperation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
I like it because the drama teacher never complains about my overbusy imagination.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
But Gardner removed it after users complained it wasn’t a good time to go.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some of the audio is unclear, but Pegula can be heard describing how Andreeva and Martinez complained throughout the session, even though Andreeva won every game.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
In one of the few bakeries still operating in the capital, Abir Mohammed complained that "we used to eat bread with all our daily meals; now we can't do that".
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
However, according to an analyst at BTIG, some franchisees complained about the costs of bringing hand-breaded chicken to menus and said the birds themselves might be too big.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
“You hurt me,” she complained, rubbing her arm where it had scraped the side of the wagon.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
“All the while, our customers are breaking down the doors complaining about our delivery delays.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
The San Diego stations drivers are complaining about are privately owned.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
“I won’t normalize somebody who has said that my childhood is something I’m just complaining about,” Ms. Acton told Spectrum News.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
“I won’t normalize somebody who said my childhood is just something I’m complaining about,” Acton said in a Tuesday appearance on Spectrum News.
From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026
So I didn’t resist, although when we were back in the car and Mom started complaining about the price of gasoline, I wondered if maybe I should have.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
