respondent
Americannoun
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a person who responds or makes reply.
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Law. a defendant, especially in appellate and divorce proceedings.
adjective
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giving a response; answering; responsive.
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Law. being a respondent.
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Psychology. of or relating to behavior that occurs consistently in response to a particular stimulus.
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Obsolete. corresponding.
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of respondent
1520–30; < Latin respondent- (stem of respondēns ), present participle of respondēre. See respond, -ent
Explanation
A respondent is a person who gives an answer. For example, on some Monday mornings, your teacher might feel like she is talking to the walls — although she asks questions, none of the sleepy students are willing respondents. A respondent is a person who answers a question, letter, email message, survey, or anything else that requires a response. You can see the word respond, which means "answer or reply to" in respondent. If a poll reveals that bullying is the top concern regarding school safety, you know that many respondents checked the box marked "bullying."
Vocabulary lists containing respondent
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.
“I have never met Respondent and have no idea who she is, however, she knows who I am.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2025
The Respondent was entitled to issue the Interference Alert, and indeed had an obligation to do in order to fulfil its statutory function of protecting Parliamentary democracy.
From BBC • Dec. 17, 2024
“The motion’s principal claim — that two key trial witnesses lied under oath — is false. … Respondent has not lost confidence in this conviction.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 20, 2023
It finds that he failed in his obligation as a lawyer when he "commenced litigation without evidence that its core factual claim was true. Respondent based the Pennsylvania litigation only on speculation, mistrust, and suspicion":
From Salon • Jul. 11, 2023
The Questioner's business is to extract from the Respondent admissions involving the opposite of what he has undertaken to maintain.
From Logic, Inductive and Deductive by Minto, William
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.
