barrater

9.9

A person who often starts useless court cases or fights to cause trouble

noun
/ˈbærətər/

Archaic

: barratero

The court declared him a barrater for repeatedly filing baseless lawsuits.

Examples

Accused of being a barrater, he was barred from initiating further legal action.
Historically, a barrater could be punished for inciting unnecessary litigation.
The barrater filed multiple lawsuits against his neighbors.
She is known as a notorious barrater in the community.
The court declared him a barrater after he repeatedly filed baseless lawsuits.
She is known as a notorious barrater for instigating frequent legal disputes.
Accused of being a barrater, he faced penalties for instigating unnecessary litigation.

Synonyms

provoker

vsbarrater

1 7.5

A person who starts trouble on purpose to make others react

focuses on starting repeated lawsuits or quarrels rather than general trouble

barrator

vsbarrater

Archaic

9.9

A person who often files pointless lawsuits to cause trouble

has identical meaning but differs only in spelling

How Litigious

barrater

Archaic

9.9

litigant

Specialized

9 7.7

Surface Forms

barrater singular

barraters plural

Morphology

barrater = barratry (opaque) = barrat + er

The noun is formed with the person suffix -er, but the base legal term barratry is not semantically transparent to most learners.

Etymology

Barrater comes from an old French verb barater that meant 'to cheat' or 'to haggle'. So a barrater is someone who causes trouble by starting false lawsuits or constant quarrels, like a person who cheats the court.