complain
verb/kəmˈpleɪn/
Etymology From Middle English complaynen, from Old French complaindre, from Medieval Latin complangere (“to bewail, complain”), from Latin com- (“together”) + plangere (“to strike, beat, as the breast in extreme grief, bewail”); see plain, plaint.
1
To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
- Joe was always complaining about the noise made by his neighbours.
- O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 12, line 67:
2
To state the presence of something negative; to indicate that one is suffering from something; to report (e.g.) a symptom.
- The patient complained of headache, nausea, and joint pain.
3
To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.
- They've complained about me to the police again.
- Now, Master Shallow, you'll complain of me to the king?c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
1 more example
- If you get cheated by the Better Business Bureau, who do you complain to?1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 85:
4
To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.
- the complaining bed-springs
- Synonyms
42 terms
beef, bellyache, bemoan, bitch, bleat, whimper, carp, chunter, complain, crab, croak, dump on, frine, girn, give out, grumble, grotch, grouse, grouch, grump, gruntle, gripe, harp, inveigh, kvetch, latrate, make a stink, murmur, mutter, moan, nag, nark, nudzh, pinch, piss and moan, rail, rail out, repine, ride, snivel, whine, whinge- Derived terms
- can't complain, complainable, complainant, complainee, complainer, complainingly, complainingness, complain king, complain queen, complainy, noncomplaining, uncomplained, uncomplaining, you'd complain if you were hung with a new rope
- Related terms
- complainer, fastidious, peevish, utter
- Hypernyms
- communicate