PLAINTS Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

plaints

noun

plural of plaint

as in lamentations

a crying out in grief the day after the massacre the plaints of bereaved mothers and wives could be heard throughout the village

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in whines

an expression of dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment that taxes are too high is perhaps the most perennial of plaints

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plaints

Noun

These rock lamentations will not be carried over to the full-length album the band still has in the works, which Bono promises will have a more joyful tone.

— Chris Willman, Variety, 18 Feb. 2026
The album’s Bandcamp blurb shouts out Ghédalia Tarzatès, the late French composer who collaged his wails and lamentations in the endangered Ladino language to evoke pangs of existential angst.

— H.D. Angel, Pitchfork, 6 Feb. 2026

Definition of lamentations

Noun

The blaze left more than 89 million pounds of rotting food, triggering over 4,900 odor complaints and 38 violation notices as Lineage missed the city’s 45-day cleanup deadline despite a $150-million effort.

— Roger Vincent, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
The California Fair Political Practices Commission received six complaints about the Steyer campaign’s possible violations of the 2023 law.

— Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of complaints

Noun

Memory tends to lose sound quickly, but even years later, Jake’s mother’s wails play with the same staccatos and double chords.

— Caroline Cherston, STAT, 25 Aug. 2026
Mourners beat their chests rhythmically in the intense summer heat, the wails of women cutting through the noise as the body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was unveiled beneath a glass case at the Grand Mosalla.

— Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN Money, 4 July 2026

Definition of wails

Noun

Food price spikes can also exacerbate grievances and lead to riots that destabilize governments; anger over hunger, for example, set the conditions for the Arab Spring protests.

— Anna Nelson, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2026
But online, snippets of the Ontario fire videos are being shared, fueling grievances over the growing cost of living and stagnant wages.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of grievances

Noun

Scott’s face, in this shot, is a whole novel, disintegrating into tears before being shored up again, eventually rearranged into something resembling a welcoming smile that teeters on the edge of collapse.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2026
The strip measures how much the eye produces tears over about five minutes.

— Julie Scott, Verywell Health, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of tears

Noun

Wails and moans of grief interspersed the chanting, until the small coffin was lowered into the grave.

— Victoria Davies, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2026
On the second call, the medical alert company employee connected a local 911 call-taker to audio from the home, where the woman's moans of pain and threats by a man could be heard.

— David Clarey, jsonline.com, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of moans

Noun

The other main track of Diamanda’s career is her interpretations of old standards, Gospel songs, laments, and folk tunes.

— Matt Thompson, SPIN, 21 Aug. 2026
Her laments are now laced with fury, as genocidal wars and murderous technologies join global warming in the twenty-first century’s third decade.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of laments

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.

Cite this Entry

Style

“Plaints.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaints. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of plaints

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

elegiac

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18

Popular

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes