plaintiff
Americannoun
-
plaintiffs
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
In interviews with The Wall Street Journal, Molchanova publicly discussed her ordeal for the first time, revealing that she was the lead Jane Doe plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against Bank of America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
"We know these armed groups must be subdued. But the question is: what do we do with these children?" plaintiff Roxemhberg Rozo, a political scientist and law student, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Standing is the constitutional requirement under Article 3 that a plaintiff have a sufficiently personal stake in a dispute before a federal court may exercise judicial power.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín set a March 2 trial, which was in line with the plaintiff states’ request.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
“The plaintiff, meaning Mr. Hobert?” says Principal Jenkins.
From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya
The settlement doesn’t include an admission of wrongdoing by Meta, but does require it to institute policies to address the issues raised by the plaintiffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Downtown LA Law Group, which represents more than 2,700 plaintiffs, has yet to receive money to dole out payments, according to county officials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
It isn’t clear whether the lawyers challenging the ballroom can find other plaintiffs who would meet the court’s test for standing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Rogers would have protected those plaintiffs as well.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
District Court in West Palm Beach on behalf of thirty-one Florida children, referring to most of the plaintiffs by their initials, although they used my whole name.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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.
