complaining
Syllables: com·plain·ing/kəmˈpleɪn.ɪŋ/
complaining is the present participle and gerund of complain.
Meaning of complain
Verb
complain (third-person singular simple present complains, present participle complaining, simple past and past participle complained)
- To express feelings of pain, dissatisfaction, or resentment.
- Joe was always complaining about the noise made by his neighbours.
- To state the presence of something negative; to indicate that one is suffering from something; to report (e.g.) a symptom.
- The patient complained of headache, nausea, and joint pain.
- To make a formal accusation or bring a formal charge.
- They've complained about me to the police again.
- To creak or squeak, as a timber or wheel.
- the complaining bed-springs
Noun
complaining (plural complainings)
- The act by which someone complains; a complaint.
- Elizabeth[…]wished he were beside her, and was so glad to think he would soon be beside her always, with all his humours and weaknesses, all his little crossnesses and complainings ;[…]1863, Dinah Craik, Mistress and Maid, volume 2, page 277
Adjective
complaining (comparative more complaining, superlative most complaining)
- Continuously expressing dissatisfaction or annoyance.
Forms of complaining
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | complainings |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more complaining |
| superlative | most complaining |
Words that rhyme with complaining
- training
- draining
- planing
- remaining
- waning
- aquatraining
- baning
- caning
- chaining
- craning
- entertaining
- feigning
13 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about complaining
- What does complaining mean?
- Complaining means the act by which someone complains; a complaint.
- What is complaining the present participle and gerund of?
- Complaining is the present participle and gerund of complain.
- What part of speech is complaining?
- Complaining can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce complaining?
- Complaining is pronounced /kəmˈpleɪn.ɪŋ/.
- What is the plural of complaining?
- The plural of complaining is complainings.
Words near complaining in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: complaining (page history and authors); complain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-complaining.wav.
Cite this entry: “complaining.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/complaining. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.