complained; complaining; complains
1
: to express grief, pain, or discontent
complaining about the weather
2
: to make a formal accusation or charge
He threatened to complain of him to the captain.
complainer
noun
Synonyms
Examples of complain in a Sentence
He works hard but he never complains.
If you're unhappy with the service, you should complain to the manager.
The students complained that the test was too hard.
“These shoes are too tight,” he complained.
Recent Examples on the Web
An unknown number of people within the department complained about the post.
—
Rachel Royster, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Reddit users are complaining about problems connecting to the online forum, with thousands of people telling DownDetector on Wednesday that the service is down.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2024
And the notion that if a sort of resistance who opposes him stayed in their safe bubbles, sat on their hands and complained about him for four years, that that would have a bigger impact than sitting down… This is absolutely the right thing.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024
Viewers complained of low quality feeds, sudden pauses and stream failures.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 18 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for complain 
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Rachel Royster, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Reddit users are complaining about problems connecting to the online forum, with thousands of people telling DownDetector on Wednesday that the service is down.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2024
And the notion that if a sort of resistance who opposes him stayed in their safe bubbles, sat on their hands and complained about him for four years, that that would have a bigger impact than sitting down… This is absolutely the right thing.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Nov. 2024
Viewers complained of low quality feeds, sudden pauses and stream failures.
—Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 18 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for complain
Dictionary Entries Near complain
Cite this Entry
“Complain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complain. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
complain
verb
com·plain
kəm-ˈplān 
1
: to express grief, pain, or discontent : find fault
complaining about the weather
2
: to accuse someone of wrongdoing
complainer
noun
Medical Definition
complain
intransitive verb
com·plain
kəm-ˈplān
: to speak of one's illness or symptoms
the patient visited the office complaining of weight loss
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