complainant
part of speech
noun (a complainant, complainants)
meaning for a pupil
1) (law) A complainant is a person who makes an official complaint or brings a case to a court, saying they have been wronged. tree →
2) (formal) Anyone who makes a formal complaint, for example to a company or school. tree →
sense in the lessons
A formal, legal word met in news about trials and complaints. It tells the reader who says they were harmed. Phrases: «the complainant said», «the complainant's lawyer».
examples
- The complainant told the court what had happened. tree →
- The judge listened to both the complainant and the accused. tree →
- The complainant asked for the money to be returned. tree →
- The company wrote back to each complainant. tree →
- In the case, the complainant was a shop owner. tree →
- The complainant's name was kept secret. tree →
note
Formal; in daily speech say «the person who complained». Not the same as «complaint» (what is said) or «complainer» (someone who moans a lot, informal). The other side in a criminal case is «the defendant» or «the accused».
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «complainant» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.