complaint
/kəmˈpleɪnt/noun
complaint is spelled C-O-M-P-L-A-I-N-T: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, complaint means “The act of complaining” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of complaint is complaints.
How many letters and syllables are in complaint?
| Letters | 9: C-O-M-P-L-A-I-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is complaint?
Complaint appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce complaint?
- /kəmˈpleɪnt/
Complaint has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-complaint.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with complaint?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as complaint.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: compliant.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of complaint
- complaints plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does complaint mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of complaining.
customer complaints
- 2
A grievance, problem, difficulty, or concern.
I have no complaints about the quality of his work, but I don't enjoy his company.
- 3
In a civil action, the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim is based.
- 4
In criminal law, the preliminary charge or accusation made by one person against another to the appropriate court or officer, usually a magistrate.
- 5
A bodily disorder or disease; the symptom of such a disorder.
Don't come too close; I've got this nasty complaint.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate complaint?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of complaint: compl..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Complaint in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plainte, réclamation , (to lodge a criminal complaint)porter plainte |
| German | Klage, Anzeige, Monierung, Reklamation, Beanstandung, Beschwerde |
| Portuguese | queixa, reclamação , distúrbio |
| Spanish | queja , mal, afección, dolencia , denuncia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does complaint come from?
From Middle English compleynte, from Anglo-Norman compleint, from Old French compleindre, eventually from Latin planctus (whence plaint).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).