Complaining

How to spell complaining

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce complaining

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does complaining mean?

1. verbExpressing dissatisfaction, annoyance, or a grievance about something.

Complaining in a sentence

• The tenants kept complaining about the broken heating all winter.

• Without complaining once, she worked through the whole busy weekend.

Where does complaining come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin verb plangere, which literally meant 'to beat' or 'to strike', especially to beat one's own chest in grief, and so came to mean 'to lament loudly'. With the intensifying prefix com-, Latin formed complangere, 'to bewail or mourn together'. This passed into Old French as complaindre, 'to lament' or 'to express grief', and entered English in the 1300s as 'complain'. Over time the sense softened from heartfelt mourning to the everyday meaning of voicing dissatisfaction or grievance. The present participle 'complaining' keeps the silent flow from plain (the same root that gives us 'plaintive' and 'plaintiff'); the tricky part for writers is remembering the 'ai' vowel team rather than spelling it like 'plane'.

How the word is built

• com- (intensive, together)
• plain (from Latin plangere: to lament, to beat the breast)
• -ing (present participle suffix)