as in plaintiff
the person in a legal proceeding who makes a charge of wrongdoing against another
the complainant charged that the defendant had broken the ironclad contract that both had signed
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Recent Examples of complainant
The deputy chief magistrate, Tan Ikram, ordered that Partey is not to contact directly or indirectly this new complainant, in line with the bail conditions he was served previously.
—
James McNicholas, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026
The complainant was the Campaign for Accountability, which argued that Halligan should face disciplinary action for her involvement in the federal prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 6 Mar. 2026
The ethics inquiry board deliberated on the motion to dismiss and held the motion in abeyance pending the complainant’s witnesses testifying.
—Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 18 Feb. 2026
Fong declined to specify the nature of the allegations or identify complainants, beyond confirming that the accusations were unrelated to either Gomez or Henrich.
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for complainant
James McNicholas, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2026
The complainant was the Campaign for Accountability, which argued that Halligan should face disciplinary action for her involvement in the federal prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 6 Mar. 2026
The ethics inquiry board deliberated on the motion to dismiss and held the motion in abeyance pending the complainant’s witnesses testifying.
—Mary Divine, Twin Cities, 18 Feb. 2026
Fong declined to specify the nature of the allegations or identify complainants, beyond confirming that the accusations were unrelated to either Gomez or Henrich.
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for complainant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for complainant
plaintiff
Noun
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But even if the plaintiffs are victorious, there’s no clear road ahead for how damages will be assessed.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
24 Mar. 2026
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ProPublica and the Tennessee Lookout previously reported how, after creating the new type of payday loan, Advance has gone on to sue more than 110,000 Tennesseans, making the company one of the single largest plaintiffs in the state.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
24 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Complainant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/complainant. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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