complaint
Americannoun
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an expression of discontent, regret, pain, censure, resentment, or grief; lament; faultfinding.
his complaint about poor schools.
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a cause of discontent, pain, grief, lamentation, etc.
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a cause of bodily pain or ailment; malady.
The doctor says I suffer from a rare complaint.
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Law. the first pleading of the plaintiff in a civil action, stating the cause of action.
noun
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the act of complaining; an expression of grievance
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a cause for complaining; grievance
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a mild ailment
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English law a statement by which a civil proceeding in a magistrates' court is commenced
Usage
What does complaint mean? A complaint is a statement about something you’re unhappy or upset about. It has more specific meanings in legal and medical contexts.Complaint is the noun form of the verb complain. In legal terms, a complaint is the document that officially initiates a legal proceeding. In medicine, it refers to a symptom or cause of pain as reported by a patient.Example: I liked the movie, but my one complaint is that the women in the cast didn’t get enough screen time.
Other Word Forms
- countercomplaint noun
Etymology
Origin of complaint
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English compleynte, from Middle French complainte, from Latin com- com- + plancta plaint
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.
When she filed a complaint a year later, in April 2021, investigators were able to identify genetic traces of four people on the clothes.
From Barron's
Warwickshire Police said: "The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating the original complaint and it would therefore be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time."
From BBC
Most of the lawsuits haven’t yet reached the courtroom, with the exception of the brokerage Compass’s antitrust complaint.
From Barron's
But lawmakers then directed a host of complaints at Bondi about how the justice department has handled its release of the files.
From BBC
It said that following customer complaints and vehicle inspections "it was determined that the starter of the engine in the identified vehicles could become defective," the statement said.
From Barron's
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.
