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

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as in whines

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

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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

No wet plop of a SpongeBob ice cream bar crashing onto hot asphalt; a child’s apocalyptic wails ensuing.

— Allyson Reedy, Denver Post, 16 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of wails

Noun

The yield loses most of its power once someone has already started listing their old grievances.

— Mark Travers, CNBC, 11 Oct. 2026
The Houthis have longstanding grievances against Saudi Arabia over Riyadh’s decade-long war against the group, which triggered the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

— Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of grievances

Noun

One of us would be chosen to recite the poem onstage—a kitsch performance, no doubt, so that an auditorium of adults would be moved to tears.

— Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
The first days of testimony brought tears from witnesses, spectators and jurors, the 9th Street Journal reported.

— Leigh Egan, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of tears

Noun

Over cries of foul from those who came in person, the board’s attorney Shayla Myers announced the meeting was canceled because the Zoom channel had a capacity of only 1,000.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2026
Lacking life detection equipment, the workers strained to hear their cries.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of cries

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

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“Plaints.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plaints. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of plaints

noun

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