litigants

plural of litigant
as in defendants
law someone who brings a legal action against another person or against whom a legal action is brought Both litigants chose to represent themselves in court.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of litigants As a federal judge, Talwani has a history of siding with liberal litigants, including in immigration cases. Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 10 Sep. 2025 Judges rely on the expectation that litigants will maintain coherence in their legal positions. Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for litigants
Noun
  • The declaration also names the FBI, the DOJ, and the Executive Office of the President as defendants.
    Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 11 Sep. 2025
  • But with a majority already secured, Bolsonaro and his co-defendants — including three former generals and the former head of the navy — are on track to be convicted, and could face up to 40 years in prison.
    Júlia Dias Carneiro, NPR, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • How do members of political parties feel about political violence?
    Carlie Procell, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Contemporaneous evidence that the parties intended a loan and treated it as such is persuasive in court and practical with IRS auditors.
    Virginia La Torre Jeker, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Police arrested or ticketed people, many of whom became plaintiffs in a later lawsuit in which an appellate court ruled the curfew didn't violate protesters' First Amendment rights.
    Bridget Fogarty, jsonline.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The three plaintiffs are among the most senior and lauded FBI agents to have worked at the Bureau in recent memory.
    Carrie Johnson, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Litigants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/litigants. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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