Expressing or characterized by complaint; tending to complain or voice grievances.
From complaint (from Old French complainte) plus the adjective suffix -ive. The word evolved to describe things that embody or express the quality of complaining, developing in English by the 17th century.
This word is practically extinct in modern English—it's a linguistic ghost! Its rarity shows how language naturally prunes words that serve the same function as common alternatives like 'complaining,' leaving the more efficient version to survive.
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