ombudsman:
(plural: ‘ombudsmen’; female: the same ‘ombudsman’; pronunciation: the letter ‘u’ rhymes with the letter ‘u’ in “but” or with the letters ‘oo’ in “book” or “cook” — for the right pronunciation of this word, please click here)
cartoon of an ombudsman taking in complaints
an individual/an official who is given the power to investigate/find the truth about the complaints made by the ordinary people/citizens against any business, institution, public office or a public official, works as a middleman and makes a fair settlement for both the parties;
a government official who has the power to investigate the complaints made be ordinary citizens against any government office or officer and carries out or suggests fair settlements;
(in British usage) a member of any one of the five offices and their officials — Banking Ombudsman, Building Society Ombudsman, Insurance Ombudsman, Investment Ombudsman and Pensions Ombudsman — who looks after the problems of the private citizens in the five fields,
a female ombudsman (far right) handling a case
The chief responsibility of an ombudsman is to investigate the complaints from the members of the public who feels that they have been treated unfairly by some government office.
An ombudsman is just like a friendly advisor who shows fairness in settling a dispute between an individual and an institution, business or government office.
Most organisations, including news channels, have ombudsmen helping the organisations run their day-to-day affairs smoothly with little or no complications.
