Meanings
nouncomplaint (countable and uncountable, plural complaints)
plural complaints
- countableuncountableThe act of complaining.
file complaints
5 more examples
customer complaints
noise complaints
The company received numerous complaints about the product.
He filed complaints with the housing authority.
Complaints have risen in particular from passengers changing trains, who have observed little or no improvement in their ability to navigate between the station's 13 platforms.
2020 July 29, Paul Stephen, “A new collaboration centred on New Street”, in Rail, page 54Synonyms: grouch
- countableuncountablelawIn criminal law, the preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another to the appropriate court or officer, usually a magistrate.
Synonyms: criminal complaint, charges
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe act of complaining.
Similar
nounIn criminal law, the preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another to the appropriate court or officer, usually a magistrate.
Similar
criminal complaintcharges
nounA bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder.
Similar
Similar
complaint of an offenceoffensecriminal informationinform the policeauthoritiesnotification of the policereport an offenceoffense to the police
penal
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nounan often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinplanctus
- Old Frenchcompleindre
- Anglo-Normancompleint
- Middle Englishcompleynte
- Englishcomplaint
From Middle English compleynte, from Anglo-Norman compleint, from Old French compleindre, eventually from Latin planctus (whence plaint).
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μομφή
- μομφή (momphḗ)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Arabic شِكَايَة, شَكْوَى
- شِكَايَة (šikāya)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- شَكْوَى (šakwā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Basque auhen
- auhengrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Bengali অভিযোগ
- অভিযোগ (obhijōg)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Bulgarian опла́кване, недово́лство
- опла́кване (oplákvane)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- недово́лство (nedovólstvo)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- жа́лба (žálba)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- бо́лест (bólest)bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- бо́лка (bólka)bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Catalan queixa, plany
- queixagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- planygrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- lamentgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Chinese Mandarin 怨言, 抱怨
- 怨言 (yuànyán)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- 抱怨 (bàoyuàn)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- 疾病 (jíbìng)bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- 病症 (bìngzhèng)bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Czech stížnost, žaloba
- stížnostgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- žalobacriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- nemocbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- příznak nemocibodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- symptombodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Danish klage
- klagegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Dutch klacht, beklag
- klachtgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- beklaggrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- grievengrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- proces-verbaalcriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- klachtbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Esperanto plendo, afekcio
- plendogrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- afekciobodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Estonian kaebus
- kaebusgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Finnish valitus, valittaminen
- valitusgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- valittaminengrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- haastehakemuslegal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
- rikosilmoituscriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- vaivabodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
French plainte, réclamation
- plaintegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- réclamationgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- plaintelegal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
- (to lodge a criminal complaint)porter plaintecriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
German Klage, Anzeige
- Klagegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- Anzeigegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- Monierunggrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- Reklamationgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- Beanstandunggrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- Beschwerdegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- Strafanzeigecriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- Anzeigecriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- Beschwerdebodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- Leidenbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- Krankheitbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Greek παράπονο
- παράπονο (parápono)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Hebrew תְּלוּנָה
- תְּלוּנָה (t'luná)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Hindi उलहना, शिकायत
- उलहना (ulahnā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- शिकायत (śikāyat)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- उलाहना (ulāhnā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- परिवाद (parivād)legal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
- अभियोग (abhiyog)criminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
Hungarian panasz, panaszkodás
- panaszgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- panaszkodásgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- panaszolásgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- reklamációgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- kifogásgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- feljelentéscriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- panaszbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- bántalombodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- betegségbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- bajbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- problémabodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Irish gearán, casaoid
- gearángrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- casaoidgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- clamhsángrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Italian reclamo, lamentela
- reclamogrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- lamentelagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- rimostranzagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- denuncialegal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
- denunciacriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- disturbobodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Japanese 不平, 不満
- 不平 (fuhei)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- 不満 (fuman)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- 文句 (monku)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Korean 불평, 불만
- 불평 (bulpyeong)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- 불만 (bulman)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- 민원 (minwon)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Latin querēla, questus
- querēlagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- questusgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Latvian sūdzība
- sūdzībagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Lithuanian skundas
- skundasgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Malay rungutan
- rungutangrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Norwegian Bokmål klage, innvending
- klagegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- innvendinggrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Polish skarga, zażalenie
- skargagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- zażaleniegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- dolegliwośćbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Portuguese queixa, reclamação
- queixagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- reclamaçãogrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- queixacriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- distúrbiobodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Punjabi ਉਲਾਹਮਾ, ਲਾਹਮਾ
- ਉਲਾਹਮਾ (ulāhmā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- ਲਾਹਮਾ (lāhmā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- اُلَاہْما (ulāhmā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- لَان٘بھا (lāṉbhā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- لَاہْما (lāhmā)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Romanian plângere, nemulțumire
- plângeregrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- nemulțumiregrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- reclamațiegrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- indispozițiebodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- tulburarebodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- dereglarebodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- deranjamentbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Russian жа́лоба, недово́льство
- жа́лоба (žáloba)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- недово́льство (nedovólʹstvo)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- нарека́ние (narekánije)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- иск (isk)criminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- недомога́ние (nedomogánije)bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- неду́г (nedúg)bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Scottish Gaelic coire
- coiregrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Slovak sťažnosť
- sťažnosťgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Spanish queja, denuncia
- quejagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- denuncialegal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
- denunciacriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- malbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- afecciónbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- dolenciabodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- achaquebodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- problemabodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Swahili lawama
- lawamabodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Swedish klagomål, klagan
- klagomålgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- klagangrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Tagalog reklamo
- reklamogrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Thai ร้องเรียน
- ร้องเรียน (rɔ́ɔng-riian)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Turkish şikâyet, şekva
- şikâyetgrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- şekvagrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- şikâyetlegal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
Ukrainian ска́рга, жа́лоба
- ска́рга (skárha)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- жа́лоба (žáloba)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Urdu شِکَایَت, شِکْوَہ
- شِکَایَت (śikāyat)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- شِکْوَہ (śikva)grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Vietnamese phàn nàn
- phàn nàngrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
Welsh achwyn, achwyniad
- achwyngrievance, problem, difficulty, or concern; the act of complaining
- achwyniadlegal: in a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff
- achwyniadcriminal law: preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another
- afiechydbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- clefydbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- salwchbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
- anhwylderbodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with complaint
saintpaintconstraintauntrestraintfaintquaintrepaintacquaintfeintplaintteintain'tattaintbepaintcan'tfresh as painthain'thaintmayn'toverpaintspraint
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
complaint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complaint
MLA
“complaint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complaint. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “complaint,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/complaint.
Source: complaint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.