as in complainants
the person in a legal proceeding who makes a charge of wrongdoing against another
the judge ruled that the plaintiff's lawsuit was groundless, and he dismissed it
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Recent Examples of plaintiffs
The plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions, had sued Harvard and the University of North Carolina for, allegedly, deploying affirmative action in ways that discriminated against their applications.
—
Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
In 2018, the Latino Action Network and the New Jersey chapter of the NAACP, among other plaintiffs, filed a suit arguing that the state’s system of assigning students based on their residence has created racially segregated schools.
—Annie Ma, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2026
But on the other side, lawyers for the plaintiffs have argued that courts can scrutinize the process taken to reach the decision to extend or terminate the deportation relief, and whether the Homeland Security secretary applied the criteria laid out in federal law.
—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 20 May 2026
The lead plaintiffs in the case were primarily tied to the city of Pontiac, Michigan, near Detroit, and Plantation, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, court documents show.
—Charlotte Observer, 19 May 2026
The plaintiffs are two transgender teens and their parents, who are all identified by pseudonyms in court filings.
—Matthew Kelly
may 19, Kansas City Star, 19 May 2026
The lawyers took down affidavits from the plaintiffs’ immigration attorneys—the men themselves were unreachable—and crafted an argument to protect a wider class of migrants in custody.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2025
There is a lot of fear amongst these plaintiffs.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2025
Yet the plaintiffs and their lawyers may never see this money.
—Abigail Dubiniecki, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
In 2018, the Latino Action Network and the New Jersey chapter of the NAACP, among other plaintiffs, filed a suit arguing that the state’s system of assigning students based on their residence has created racially segregated schools.
—Annie Ma, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2026
But on the other side, lawyers for the plaintiffs have argued that courts can scrutinize the process taken to reach the decision to extend or terminate the deportation relief, and whether the Homeland Security secretary applied the criteria laid out in federal law.
—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 20 May 2026
The lead plaintiffs in the case were primarily tied to the city of Pontiac, Michigan, near Detroit, and Plantation, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, court documents show.
—Charlotte Observer, 19 May 2026
The plaintiffs are two transgender teens and their parents, who are all identified by pseudonyms in court filings.
—Matthew Kelly
may 19, Kansas City Star, 19 May 2026
The lawyers took down affidavits from the plaintiffs’ immigration attorneys—the men themselves were unreachable—and crafted an argument to protect a wider class of migrants in custody.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2025
There is a lot of fear amongst these plaintiffs.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2025
Yet the plaintiffs and their lawyers may never see this money.
—Abigail Dubiniecki, Forbes.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaintiffs
complainants
Noun
-
Cleveland Horton, executive director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, spearheaded the bill that would have created a private right of action and given his office the authority to seek punitive damages on behalf of complainants.—
Delano Squires,
Baltimore Sun,
9 May 2026
-
The move comes after policies were earlier introduced by Meta that complainants say may unfairly prevent rival AI providers from offering their business services through WhatsApp.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Plaintiffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaintiffs. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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