What does complaint mean?
A complaint is a spoken or written expression of dissatisfaction with a product, service, situation, or person's conduct. It ranges from a casual grumble to a formally documented grievance submitted to an authority — customers file complaints with companies, citizens lodge them with ombudsmen, and employees raise them through HR channels. The word carries a neutral-to-negative connotation: making a complaint can be seen either as legitimate self-advocacy or as tiresome fault-finding, depending on context and frequency. In law, a complaint is a formal pleading stating a plaintiff's case, and in chiefly British usage it can also denote a minor ailment, as in 'a chest complaint'. Derived from the same root as 'complain' and 'plaintiff', the word ultimately descends from Latin 'plangere', meaning to bewail or lament.
nounA statement that something is unsatisfactory or unacceptable; an expression of grievance or dissatisfaction. In law, a formal document setting out the plaintiff's allegations in a civil lawsuit.
- An expression of dissatisfaction or annoyance about something considered wrong or unacceptable.
- An illness or medical condition (chiefly British, often informal): 'a stomach complaint'.
- A formal legal pleading in which a plaintiff sets out claims against another party.
"The airline received hundreds of complaints about the delayed flights."
"She filed a complaint with the consumer protection agency after the faulty appliance was never repaired."
"He suffers from a recurring chest complaint that flares up each winter."
Regular English plural; very common in administrative and business contexts ('handle customer complaints').
"The department logged over a thousand complaints last year."
The words 'complaint' and 'plaintiff' are cousins: both trace back to Latin 'plangere', to beat one's breast in grief — so every courtroom plaintiff is, literally, still 'the complainer'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of complaint
'Complaint' entered English in the late Middle Ages via Old French 'complainte', from the verb 'complaindre', itself derived from Latin 'complangere' — literally 'to beat together', formed on 'plangere', to strike oneself in mourning or grief. This same Latin root gives English 'plaintive', describing mournful music, and 'plaintiff', the party who lodges a legal claim. Over time the word's sense narrowed from passionate lamentation to the modern, more prosaic expression of dissatisfaction, though its legal use preserves the older, formal register.
Related word forms
How complaint is actually used
Neutral to mildly negative in tone; frequent in customer-service, legal, and bureaucratic contexts. In British English, especially among older speakers, 'complaint' commonly means a mild illness (e.g. 'a heart complaint'), a sense now rare in American English. The verb is 'complain' (never 'complaint of' as a verb form).
Easily confused with complaint
A complement is something that completes or goes well with something else, while a complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction — the two share no meaning despite a superficial resemblance.
A plaint is an archaic or literary term for a lament or formal legal accusation, whereas complaint is the ordinary modern word for any expression of dissatisfaction.