complaint

noun

The act of complaining.

A grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern.

A bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder.

(law) In a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim is based.

(law) In criminal law, the preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another to the appropriate court or officer, usually a magistrate.

Roots

plango-plaint · Latin · beat breast, lament

Synonyms for complaint

grievancen plaintn complainingadj allegationn lawsuitn accusaln objectionn accusationn expostulationn gripev indictmentn demurrern protestationn remonstrationn remonstrancen

Synonyms & related words for complaint

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of complaint — including grievance, plaint, complaining, allegation, lawsuit, accusal. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to complaint

Explore words related to complaint — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include whingeingly, complainant, complained, alleging, complains, complainingly, counterclaim, alleger. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for complaint

Common synonyms for complaint include grievance, plaint, complaining, allegation, lawsuit, accusal, objection, accusation — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does complaint come from?

The word complaint breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root -plaint, from Latin plango (“beat breast, lament”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.