as in to whine
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely
the time-honored tradition of new recruits complaining about the food in the mess hall
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of complain
In my experience as an outfitter, Altra has always been my go-to suggestion whenever a customer walks in complaining about foot problems.
—
Alice Bennett, Travel + Leisure, 11 Sep. 2025
Miami is awful, and everyone should’ve known it the minute their players were complaining that their joint practice with the Bears was too tough.
—Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
After complaining of pain, Nelson continues, Dakar rinsed off the solution and gave her a fan to cool her face down.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
Apparently without recognizing the irony, the same AI companies who steal our work to build their models have complained vociferously about China’s theft of their IP for DeepSeekAI.
—Ruth Vitale, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for complain
Alice Bennett, Travel + Leisure, 11 Sep. 2025
Miami is awful, and everyone should’ve known it the minute their players were complaining that their joint practice with the Bears was too tough.
—Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
After complaining of pain, Nelson continues, Dakar rinsed off the solution and gave her a fan to cool her face down.
—Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
Apparently without recognizing the irony, the same AI companies who steal our work to build their models have complained vociferously about China’s theft of their IP for DeepSeekAI.
—Ruth Vitale, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for complain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for complain
Verb
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The cats kept them up each night with their incessant whining and scratching at their doors.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
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In lesser hands, such a question, especially from a young white male who plays guitar for a living, could come off as whining.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Witnesses screamed in horror and fled for cover after the bullet struck Kirk in the neck.—
Michael Ruiz , Peter D'Abrosca , Julia Bonavita , Sarah Rumpf-Whitten , David Spunt , CB Cotton,
FOXNews.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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Broadcast and cable networks like CNN did show some of the footage, but stopped the images and ran only audio, with the sounds of those in the crowd screaming.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Julia says, dropping to all fours and moaning amid a pile of straw on the floor.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ellis could be heard moaning and could be seen lying on the ground.—
Elena Santa Cruz,
AZCentral.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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University administrators should support tough professors and resist the temptation to placate grumbling undergraduates.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
9 Sep. 2025
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Windows users—many of whom perennially grumble about the addition of new features to the operating system—can breathe a sigh of relief.—
Michael Muchmore,
PC Magazine,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Although full disclosure, those two words were muttered in the press box Sunday after Nix had thrown two unsightly picks through the first three quarters of the Broncos’ win over Tennessee.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
7 Sep. 2025
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There are few actors whose disembodied voices could carry long stretches of cinema, but Dafoe manages it, turning monologues about marionette mechanics or muttered complaints about hotel politics into something weirdly magnetic.—
Leila Latif,
IndieWire,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Wildfire worries With the worsening drought comes worries over wildfires.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
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The airline's fall from grace should worry anyone with loyalty to the brand.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Complain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/complain. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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