re·spon·dent
ri-ˈspän-dənt 
1
: one who responds: such as
a
: one who maintains a thesis in reply
b(1)
: one who answers in various legal proceedings (as in equity cases)
(2)
: the prevailing party in the lower court
c
: a person who responds to a poll
1
: making response : responsive
especially
: being a respondent at law
2
: relating to or being behavior or responses to a stimulus that are followed by a reward
respondent conditioning
compare operant sense 3
Examples of respondent in a Sentence
Noun
A majority of respondents said they disagreed with the mayor's plan.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Arizona Republic, 21 Apr. 2024
Nearly half of the respondents in a CNBC All-America Economic Survey poll taken in March say TikTok should be banned or sold to a non-Chinese company.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024
The fact that 40 percent of the respondents opted to save their pet does not surprise me.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Food scarcity was the worst in Houston, a metropolitan area that also ranked high on other measures of poverty in the survey, which was conducted March 5 to April 1 and had about 70,000 respondents.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024
Donald Trump’s other criminal cases The poll also surveyed respondents on the three other criminal cases against Trump.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
Gallup polls conducted since late last year found that 65 percent of Israeli respondents opposed the two-state solution and only 25 percent supported it.
—Elliott Abrams, Foreign Affairs, 17 Apr. 2024
Polls show a divided America, with about half of respondents saying Trump was guilty of falsifying the business records at issue in the New York case.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
In the Antelope Valley, 24% of respondents reported owning a gun.
—Gabrielle Lamarr Lemee, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Hannah Drown, cleveland, 10 Oct. 2022
The legal doctrine of respondent superior states that an employer can be vicariously liable for the improper actions of its employee or agent.
—Tom Spiggle, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022
The salient findings of the report include, among others, the response of respondent family offices to the rising global inflation, high levels of cash holdings, and the much healthier performance of general portfolios as compared to past years.
—Francois Botha, Forbes, 2 May 2022
That percentage is roughly 15 percent higher than within the entire respondent pool.
—Paul Grein, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2022
Key respondent groups identified as Black – African (18%), Black – Caribbean (12%), Any Other Ethnicity (11%), Black Caribbean and White (10%), Indian (10%) and Asian and White (8%), among others.
—Manori Ravindran, Variety, 23 Aug. 2021
When a household agrees to participate, Nielsen has field representatives to contact would-be respondent homes.
—Brad Adgate, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2021
Absent a robust and respondent welfare state, protests have become a routine — and occasionally effective — means of social negotiation between citizens, workers and public officials.
—Chantal Berman, Washington Post, 19 Jan. 2018
Noun
Assessing your score As noted, only 4% of respondents answered each of the five retirement questions correctly.
—The Arizona Republic, 21 Apr. 2024
Nearly half of the respondents in a CNBC All-America Economic Survey poll taken in March say TikTok should be banned or sold to a non-Chinese company.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024
The fact that 40 percent of the respondents opted to save their pet does not surprise me.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Food scarcity was the worst in Houston, a metropolitan area that also ranked high on other measures of poverty in the survey, which was conducted March 5 to April 1 and had about 70,000 respondents.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024
Donald Trump’s other criminal cases The poll also surveyed respondents on the three other criminal cases against Trump.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2024
Gallup polls conducted since late last year found that 65 percent of Israeli respondents opposed the two-state solution and only 25 percent supported it.
—Elliott Abrams, Foreign Affairs, 17 Apr. 2024
Polls show a divided America, with about half of respondents saying Trump was guilty of falsifying the business records at issue in the New York case.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
In the Antelope Valley, 24% of respondents reported owning a gun.
—Gabrielle Lamarr Lemee, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Adjective
The respondent pool was reviewed to ensure U.S. Census targets for gender, age, race, education and home ownership were met.
—Hannah Drown, cleveland, 10 Oct. 2022
The legal doctrine of respondent superior states that an employer can be vicariously liable for the improper actions of its employee or agent.
—Tom Spiggle, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2022
The salient findings of the report include, among others, the response of respondent family offices to the rising global inflation, high levels of cash holdings, and the much healthier performance of general portfolios as compared to past years.
—Francois Botha, Forbes, 2 May 2022
That percentage is roughly 15 percent higher than within the entire respondent pool.
—Paul Grein, Billboard, 8 Mar. 2022
Key respondent groups identified as Black – African (18%), Black – Caribbean (12%), Any Other Ethnicity (11%), Black Caribbean and White (10%), Indian (10%) and Asian and White (8%), among others.
—Manori Ravindran, Variety, 23 Aug. 2021
When a household agrees to participate, Nielsen has field representatives to contact would-be respondent homes.
—Brad Adgate, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2021
Absent a robust and respondent welfare state, protests have become a routine — and occasionally effective — means of social negotiation between citizens, workers and public officials.
—Chantal Berman, Washington Post, 19 Jan. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'respondent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near respondent
Cite this Entry
“Respondent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/respondent. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
respondent
1 of 2 noun
re·spon·dent
ri-ˈspän-dənt
: a reflex that occurs in response to a specific external stimulus
the knee jerk is a typical respondent
Legal Definition
respondent
noun
re·spon·dent
ri-ˈspän-dənt
: one who answers or defends in various proceedings: as
a
: an answering party in an equitable proceeding
b
: a party against whom a petition (as for a writ of habeas corpus) seeking relief is brought
c
: an answering party in a proceeding in juvenile court or family court
specifically
: a party against whom a divorce proceeding is brought
d
: a party prevailing at trial who defends the outcome on appeal : appellee
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