ombudsman

CEFRB2

/ˈɒmbədzmən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
An official who investigates complaints against an organization.
02
noun
Extra detail
A designated internal mediator in an organization whose duty is to assist members with conflict resolution and other problems and to serve as an independent consultant to recommend changes to policies or procedures to improve organization effectiveness, effic...

Examples

"Ombudsman" is one of the widely used words that have been borrowed from Swedish.
Where's the office of the ombudsman, please?

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Also pronounced

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

An appointed official whose duty is to investigate complaints, generally on behalf of individuals such as consumers or taxpayers, against institutions such as companies and government departments.
A designated internal mediator in an organization whose duty is to assist members with conflict resolution and other problems and to serve as an independent consultant to recommend changes to policies or procedures to improve organization effectiveness, efficiency, and humaneness.

In context

Tom is an ombudsman.
"All the Nordic ombudsmen have the same view: that circumcision of boys should not be done until the boy is old enough to decide himself if is something he wants to do,” Anne Lindboe, Norway's Ombudsman for Children, told DW.

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

The word in print, with each source given in full.

"All the Nordic ombudsmen have the same view: that circumcision of boys should not be done until the boy is old enough to decide himself if is something he wants to do,” Anne Lindboe, Norway's Ombudsman for Children, told DW.
2014 April 30, Lars Bevanger, “Circumcision row”, in DW
The ombudsman found that youth living at El Pueblo remained under the care and supervision of staff who had been accused of abusing them. In one case, a youth was reportedly dragged across the carpet by two staff members, resulting in rugburns on his face.
2019 August 13, “A Pueblo center for troubled kids had 243 abuse allegations in the year before it closed”, in The Colorado Sun

Looking a word up is the easy part. LexUp remembers which words you have met and brings them back at the point you were about to forget them.

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