had been complaining
- past perfect progressive of complain.
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.
One worker sent us emails showing how he had been complaining about the issue as early as 2019.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
Administrators had been complaining to her about it but had no policy to point to in order to justify taking it down.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2024
At Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia, Robbie Campbell had been complaining of severe constipation and rectal bleeding since the beginning of 2016, according to medical records contained in a lawsuit.
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2023
The star of the day, however, was Dejan Joveljic, who had been complaining about a lack of opportunity after playing just 193 minutes through the club’s first 13 games.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2022
Gey and his colleagues had been complaining that they wasted too much time just making medium and trying to keep cells alive.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
