vendetta
Americannoun
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a private feud in which the members of the family of a murdered person seek to avenge the murder by killing the slayer or one of the slayer's relatives, especially such vengeance as once practiced in Corsica and parts of Italy.
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any prolonged and bitter feud, rivalry, contention, or the like.
a political vendetta.
noun
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a private feud, originally between Corsican or Sicilian families, in which the relatives of a murdered person seek vengeance by killing the murderer or some member of his family
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any prolonged feud, quarrel, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of vendetta
First recorded in 1850–55; from Italian, from Latin vindicta “vengeance”; see vindictive
Explanation
A vendetta is blood feud, a quest for revenge. A vendetta might separate families for generations, with members of one family murdering those of the other, all to satisfy an ancient grudge. If a friend of yours breaks into your locker and fills it with crumpled up newspaper, you will not be able to hold your head up until you have carried out a vendetta. Perhaps you can tie his shoes together during French class without his noticing?
Vocabulary lists containing vendetta
100 SAT Words Beginning with "V"
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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Challenge, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"No member of parliament with me will use this institution for a personal vendetta", Sonko said, speaking in Wolof.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
Later Roman writers dressed up the Punic Wars as an ancestral vendetta of the Barcids, the family to which Hannibal belonged.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026
During a fringe event at Labour's party conference this week, Rachel Reeves reportedly joked the government had a vendetta against the peer.
From BBC • Oct. 2, 2025
He re-teamed with Pollack in “Jeremiah Johnson,” in which he played a mountain man who becomes the object of a vendetta.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2025
Was he motivated by a promise of immunity, or was it a personal vendetta against Faraday?
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
