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ombudsman

UK/ˈɒmbədzmən/US/ˈɑmbədzmən/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,533 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: ombudsmen

An ombudsman is the official who settles complaints against businesses. The financial ombudsman, take it to the ombudsman, an ombudsman ruling.

The service is free to the complainant and paid for by the industry, and its rulings bind the firm and not the customer, who may still go to court. The word is Swedish and means a representative, which is exactly the job.

Kotoviski photograph by Henryk Kotowski · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of ombudsman

  1. 1nounombudsmanThe official who settles complaints against businesses.C1

    “If the bank won't refund you, you can take your complaint to the ombudsman.”

ombudsman is an official.

Where it comes from

Swedish ombudsman means a representative, from Old Norse umbodsmadr, a deputy or agent.

  1. Old Norse

    umboðsmaðr

  2. Swedish

    ombudsman

  3. English, today

    ombudsman

Built from

  • ombud · Swedish — representative, proxy

Swedish ombudsman (equivalent to ombud (“representative, proxy”) + man), from Old Norse umboðsmaðr.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Shopping & Money

Practise this word

ombudsman in the wild

  • The office serves as a direct link between the electorate and city government, effectively acting as an ombudsman, or watchdog, for New Yorkers.

    New York City Public Advocate

  • Parliamentary Ombudsman is the name of the principal ombudsman institutions in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Norway.

    Parliamentary Ombudsman

  • In each case, the terms refer both to the office of the parliamentary ombudsman and to an individual ombudsman.

    Parliamentary Ombudsman

  • EWON is an industry-based ombudsman scheme, which means it is funded by its members.

    Energy & Water Ombudsman

  • Government ombudsman services are free to the public, like many other ombudsman and dispute resolution services, and are a means of resolving disputes outside of the court systems.

    Ombudsmen in Australia

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.