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
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
Other younger-generation consumers say there’s really no advantage to using cash and complain that getting some wastes time.
—
Sydney Lake, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2025
Everyone complained about Jeff Grimes as OC last season.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 31 Oct. 2025
The email announcing the cancellation and Fewell’s interview with Channel 27 did not mention the nonbinary character or say a parent complained, as Picoult has alleged.
—Hallie Jackson, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2025
And this conversation was mentioned, actually, many times, not just once because the daughter was constantly calling and complaining about how difficult is the life there [in Germany].
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for complain
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Sydney Lake, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2025
Everyone complained about Jeff Grimes as OC last season.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 31 Oct. 2025
The email announcing the cancellation and Fewell’s interview with Channel 27 did not mention the nonbinary character or say a parent complained, as Picoult has alleged.
—Hallie Jackson, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2025
And this conversation was mentioned, actually, many times, not just once because the daughter was constantly calling and complaining about how difficult is the life there [in Germany].
—Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for complain
Cite this Entry
“Complain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complain. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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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