ombudsman

noun

om·​buds·​man ˈäm-ˌbu̇dz-mən How to pronounce ombudsman (audio)
ˈȯm-,
-bədz-,
-ˌman;
äm-ˈbu̇dz-,
ȯm-
plural ombudsmen ˈäm-ˌbu̇dz-mən How to pronounce ombudsman (audio)
ˈȯm-,
-bədz-;
äm-ˈbu̇dz-,
ȯm-
1
: a person who investigates, reports on, and helps settle complaints : an individual usually affiliated with an organization or business who serves as an advocate for patients, consumers, employees, etc.
The insurance company's ombudsman was able to resolve the problem.
Become a certified volunteer ombudsman, a trained advocate for residents of nursing and rest homes.classified advertisement in The Montague (Massachusetts) Reporter
At their best, some HMOs offer special programs for Medicare members, screening them for illnesses after they join, directing them to preventive services, keeping track of the drugs they take, and making ombudsmen available to coordinate care and answer questions.Consumer Reports
About 30 newspapers now also have ombudsmen—men and women who write regular columns criticizing (and responding to reader's complaints about) their own newspapers.David Shaw
After insisting for years that citizen oversight of the Sacramento County sheriff was unnecessary and undoable, the department's top brass has shifted to calling it inevitable. But what form the new watchdog might take—a commission, an ombudsman, a squad of civil rights lawyers—is hard to predict.Dorothy Korber and Christina Jewett Bee
2
: a government official (as in Sweden or New Zealand) appointed to receive and investigate complaints made by individuals against abuses or capricious acts of public officials
Since 1962 the public has been able to have grievances about the conduct of government organisations investigated by a small department of ombudsmen headed by a Parliamentary Commissioner. This is a Scandinavian innovation which has been adapted to New Zealand's needs.About New Zealand
President Marcos has managed to evade, for the moment, the problem of what to do about the … findings on the murder of the opposition leader Benigno Aquino. To the disgust of the opposition and much of the press, he has turned the entire matter over to the Philippines' ombudsman.The Economist
ombudsmanship
ˈäm-ˌbu̇dz-mən-ˌship How to pronounce ombudsman (audio)
ˈȯm-
-bədz-
-ˌman-;
äm-ˈbu̇dz-
ȯm-
noun

Did you know?

Ombudsman was borrowed from Swedish, where it means "representative," and ultimately derives from the Old Norse words umboth ("commission") and mathr ("man"). Sweden became the first country to appoint an independent official known as an ombudsman to investigate complaints against government officials and agencies. Since then, other countries (such as Finland, Denmark, and New Zealand), as well as some U.S. states, have appointed similar officials. The word also designates a person who reviews complaints against an organization (such as a school or hospital) or to someone who enforces standards of journalistic ethics at a newspaper.

Examples of ombudsman in a Sentence

The insurance company's ombudsman was able to resolve the problem. The town's ombudsman said he would look into charges of corruption.
Recent Examples on the Web Consistent with their desire to shield the Court from entanglement in electoral lawfare, the justices have also sought, perhaps with less success, to avoid the federal judiciary’s serving as a sort of ombudsman over the political system. Robert J. Delahunty, National Review, 14 Feb. 2024 Some sources point to friction with Soon-Shiong’s 30-year-old daughter, Nika Soon-Shiong, who in recent years has apparently appointed herself the paper’s unofficial ombudsman, publicly upbraiding journalists when their politics don’t fall in line with her own progressive thinking. Jason McGahan, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2024 The two sides have exchanged prisoners 49 times, according to Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets. Harold Maass, The Week Us, theweek, 4 Jan. 2024 Alan Foreman, who primarily works in the Mid-Atlantic circuit, was just named ombudsman for HISA. John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2023 In other states, residents seeking safety records have to file a public records request or contact the state’s long-term care ombudsman. Steven Rich, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023 But an email from a campus ombudsman told the students the administrators would not meet with them. Debbie Truong, Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2023 The measure follows the release of a final investigation report by the city ombudsman last month that called on Mayor Dave Bronson to fire Office of Information Technology director Marc Dahl. Emily Goodykoontz, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Sep. 2023 The Dodd-Frank Act required the consumer bureau to appoint an ombudsman to address borrowers’ complaints about their educational loans. Stacy Cowley, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ombudsman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Swedish, literally, representative, from Old Norse umbothsmathr, from umboth commission + mathr man

First Known Use

1831, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of ombudsman was in 1831

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Dictionary Entries Near ombudsman

Cite this Entry

“Ombudsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ombudsman. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ombudsman

noun
om·​buds·​man ˈäm-ˌbu̇dz-mən How to pronounce ombudsman (audio)
ˈȯm-,
-bədz-,
-ˌman;
äm-ˈbu̇dz-,
ȯm-
plural ombudsmen -ˌmən How to pronounce ombudsman (audio)
: a government official who investigates complaints made by people about unfair acts of public officials

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