respondent

noun

re·spon·dent | \ ri-ˈspän-dənt

Definition of respondent

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

2 : a reflex that occurs in response to a specific external stimulus — compare operant

respondent

adjective

Definition of respondent (Entry 2 of 2)

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: Noun

In the Quinnipiac's poll of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters last month, Biden received the support of 30 percent of the respondents, while Sanders had 19 percent, Warren had 15 percent and Buttigieg had 8 percent. — Adam Edelman, NBC News, "Joe Biden, Kamala Harris in virtual tie for Democratic nomination, new poll shows," 2 July 2019 About 75% of the respondents to U of L's campus climate survey agreed the benefits offered meet their needs. — Morgan Watkins, The Courier-Journal, "'This is not what you worked so hard for': Salary woes, no raises hurting morale at U of L," 19 June 2019 About half of the respondents said audio streaming now accounts for over 75% of their digital income, whereas in the prior year 37% said that was the case. — Ed Christman, Billboard, "Merlin Has Now Paid Out $2B to Indie Partners Following Biggest Year to Date," 18 June 2019 And, according to a 2018 InStyle survey of almost 1,500 women, hair color services are up; only 7 percent of the respondents were dye free. — Longreads, "True Roots," 5 June 2019 Most of the respondents thought their actions were defensible. — Brian Resnick, Vox, "A top Cornell food researcher has had 13 studies retracted. That’s a lot.," 19 Sep. 2018 What's more, most of the respondents felt that anxiety interfered with their day-to-day lives. — Sarah Richards, Woman's Day, "Quiet Your Mind in Anxious Times With These Expert Tricks," 14 Aug. 2018 About a quarter of the respondents were in each of four groups: people who arrived before 2011, from 2012-2014, in 2015 and 2016, and in 2017 and 2018. — Anthony Man, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Poll of Puerto Ricans in Florida has good news for Dems — and for Gov. Scott," 30 June 2018 The poll was weighted heavily toward older voters, with 84 percent of the respondents age 50 or older. — Bryan Lowry, kansascity, "Nearly a third of GOP voters in Kansas are undecided in tight race for governor | The Kansas City Star," 17 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

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, "Why do Tunisians keep protesting?," 19 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'respondent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.