complain
verb [intransitive, transitive]Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they complain | |
| he / she / it complains | |
| past simple complained | |
| past participle complained | |
| -ing form complaining |
to say that you are annoyed, unhappy or not satisfied about somebody/something 抱怨；埋怨；投诉；发牢骚 She never complains, but she's obviously exhausted. 她虽然从不抱怨，但显然已疲惫不堪。 - (informal)
‘How are you?’ ‘Oh, I can't complain (= I'm all right).’ “你好吗？” “啊，没的抱怨的。” - complain to somebody
Annoyed residents have complained to the police. 恼怒的居民向警方投诉。 - complain about something
Shoppers complained about the lack of toilet facilities. 购物者抱怨缺少厕所设施。 - complain to somebody about something
I'm going to complain to the manager about this. 我要就这件事向经理投诉。 - complain of something
The defendant complained of intimidation during the investigation. 被告申诉在调查期间受到了恐吓。 - complain at something
She complained at the unfairness of it all. 她抗议所有这一切的不公平。 - complain (that)…
He complained bitterly that he had been unfairly treated. 他愤懑地诉说他所受到的不公平待遇。 - + speech
‘It's not fair,’ she complained. “这不公平。” 她抱怨道。
Synonyms complaincomplain- protest
- object
- grumble
- moan
- whine
- complain to say that you are annoyed, unhappy or not satisfied about somebody/something:
I’m going to complain to the manager about this. 我要就这件事向经理投诉。
- protest to say or do something to show that you disagree with something or think it is bad, especially publicly; to give something as a reason for protesting:
Students took to the streets to protest against the decision. 学生走上街头抗议这项决定。
- object to say that you disagree with something or think it is bad; to give something as a reason for objecting:
If nobody objects, we’ll postpone the meeting till next week. 如果没有人反对，我们就把会议推迟到下周。 He objected that the police had arrested him without sufficient evidence. 他抗辩说警察没有充分证据就逮捕了他。
- grumble (rather informal, disapproving) to complain about somebody/something, especially something that is not really very serious:
They kept grumbling that they were cold. 他们不停地嘟囔着说冷。
- moan (British English, rather informal, disapproving) to complain about somebody/something in an annoying way:
What are you moaning about now? 你在嘟囔些什么？
- whine (rather informal, disapproving) to complain in an annoying, crying voice:
Stop whining! 别哭哭啼啼的！ ‘I want to go home,’ whined Toby. “我要回家。”托比哼哼唧唧地说。
- to complain/protest/grumble/moan/whine about something
- to complain/protest/grumble/moan at something
- to complain/protest/object/grumble/moan/whine to somebody
- to complain/protest/object/grumble/moan/whine that…
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsa2All the guests complained about the noise. 所有的客人都抱怨这些噪声。 He really has no right to complain. 他实在无权抱怨。 I'm going to complain to the authorities about this! 我要向当局投诉这件事！ It was entirely my own idea, so I can hardly complain. 这完全是我自己的主意，所以不能抱怨什么。 She complained bitterly about the lack of help she received. 她对自己没有得到帮助而愤愤地抱怨。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- bitterly
- loudly
- constantly
- …
- cannot
- can hardly
- have cause to
- …
- about
- at
- to
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French complaindre, from medieval Latin complangere ‘bewail’, from Latin com- (expressing intensive force) + plangere ‘to lament’.