respondent

[ ri-spon-duh nt ]

/ rɪˈspɒn dənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR respondent ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who responds or makes reply.

Law. a defendant, especially in appellate and divorce proceedings.

adjective

giving a response; answering; responsive.

Law. being a respondent.

Psychology. of or relating to behavior that occurs consistently in response to a particular stimulus.

Obsolete. corresponding.

Nearby words

Origin of respondent

1520–30; < Latin respondent- (stem of respondēns), present participle of respondēre. See respond, -ent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for respondent

But rarely does it cover the respondent in even short-term glory.
Marco Rubio And The State of the Union Response Speech Curse|Michelle Cottle|February 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The most obvious: no matter how charismatic a respondent may be, he or she is not the president.
Marco Rubio And The State of the Union Response Speech Curse|Michelle Cottle|February 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The more promising the respondent, the higher the expectations and the greater the potential for disappointment.
Marco Rubio And The State of the Union Response Speech Curse|Michelle Cottle|February 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The younger the respondent, the lower the support for whaling.
I’ll Have the Whale, Please: Japan’s Unsustainable Whale Hunts|Jake Adelstein, Nathalie-Kyoko Stucky|February 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST

A respondent from New Mexico said he or she owns a “.22 pistol to shoot rattlesnakes only in my yard.”
Readers Weigh In After Newtown Shooting: Why Own a Gun?|Matthew DeLuca|December 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In that case, the respondent ought to answer Yes or No directly.
Aristotle|George Grote
Thus, if the respondent defines medicine the science of the really existent, he is incorrect either wholly or partially.
Aristotle|George Grote
The first respondent was Tapley Holland, who leaped the line at a bound, exclaiming, 'I am ready to die for my country!'
A Flight in Spring|J. Harris Knowles
The conclusion could not go beyond the premisses, because the questioner could not go beyond the admissions of the respondent.
Logic, Inductive and Deductive|William Minto
The Judge asked to see the scar on the witness' forehead and that on the forehead of the respondent.
The Underground Railroad|William Still

British Dictionary definitions for respondent

respondent

/ (rɪˈspɒndənt) /

noun

law a person against whom a petition, esp in a divorce suit, or appeal is brought

adjective

a less common word for responsive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for respondent