vindicate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
vindicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vindicated,
past participle, past
-
vindicating
present participle
-
to clear, as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like.
to vindicate someone's honor.
- Synonyms:
- exonerate
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to afford justification for; justify.
Subsequent events vindicated his policy.
-
to uphold or justify by argument or evidence.
to vindicate a claim.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate
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to assert, maintain, or defend (a right, cause, etc.) against opposition.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate
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to claim for oneself or another.
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Roman and Civil Law. to regain possession, under claim of title of property through legal procedure, or to assert one's right to possession.
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to get revenge for; avenge.
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Obsolete. to deliver from; liberate.
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Obsolete. to punish.
verb
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to clear from guilt, accusation, blame, etc, as by evidence or argument
-
to provide justification for
his promotion vindicated his unconventional attitude
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to uphold, maintain, or defend (a cause, etc)
to vindicate a claim
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Roman law to bring an action to regain possession of (property) under claim of legal title
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rare to claim, as for oneself or another
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obsolete to take revenge on or for; punish
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obsolete to set free
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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vindicatornoun
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revindicateverb (used with object)
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self-vindicatedadjective
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self-vindicatingadjective
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unvindicatedadjective
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vindicatoryadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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vindicatesimple
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vindicatessimple
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have vindicatedperfect
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has vindicatedperfect
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am vindicatingprogressive
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are vindicatingprogressive
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is vindicatingprogressive
-
have been vindicatingperfect progressive
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has been vindicatingperfect progressive
Past
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vindicatedsimple
-
had vindicatedperfect
-
was vindicatingprogressive
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were vindicatingprogressive
-
had been vindicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of vindicate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin vindicātus (past participle of vindicāre “to lay legal claim to (property); to free (someone) from servitude (by claiming him as free); to protect, avenge, punish),“ equivalent to vindic- (stem of vindex “claimant, protector, avenger”) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Vindicate means to justify, prove, or reinforce an idea — or to absolve from guilt. If your family thinks you hogged the last piece of pie on Thanksgiving, you'll be vindicated when your younger brother fesses up. Vindicate derives from the Latin vindicatus, which is the past tense of vindicare, meaning "lay claim to" or "avenge." When a physicist proves a theory that his colleagues derided, he vindicates it. When a lawyer clears her client's name in a trial, she vindicates him. Machiavelli argued that the results he got vindicated his tactics — in other words, the ends justified the means.
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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.
See Examples For:
If that version is ever unearthed, it may perhaps vindicate the director.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
The worker just doesn’t get to vindicate their rights.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Does Ms. Allen vindicate her claim that “Richmond was a defining figure of the revolutionary age?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The need "to punish the club and to vindicate those clubs who have complied with the relevant rules" is referenced.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
Trouble arose only when authors used their stories to vindicate themselves against a great hurt or perceived injustice.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar added on X that the decision "vindicates Pakistan's consistent position that a binding international treaty cannot be unilaterally suspended or set aside".
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
To AI-safety experts, it vindicates what they have been warning about all along: that AI systems would cause real-world harms and evade attempts to control them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
These analysts will claim that the stock market’s huge rally to begin this week’s trading vindicates their beliefs.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026
Only a win vindicates the Canberra decision and can ensure a peaceful holiday in Noosa after the Test.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
The second edition has a Preface in which Defoe vindicates himself from the charge of depreciating his countrymen.
From A Catalogue of Books in English Later than 1700 (Vol 1 of 3) Forming a portion of the library of Robert Hoe by Various
They were vindicated in Thursday’s disorderly selloff, said John Roe, head of multiasset allocation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
The result also vindicated Van’s claim to the championship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Admirers cheered that the court had at last vindicated Andrew Johnson.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
But she was ultimately vindicated, especially with her wildcard selections, which also included relative veteran Leona Maguire.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
For one brief, glorious moment, Kaede felt vindicated, but then her father said, “She is my daughter. She is not of age. She does not go where I do not permit.”
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
“It is a bit vindicating to see this happen in the wild,” said Jeffrey Ladish, executive director of Palisade Research, a nonprofit AI lab that studies AI capabilities to better understand risks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
So watching the rest of the world finally catch up feels a little vindicating.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
But the case was a close one with only five justices full-throatedly vindicating the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protection goals.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
And you know, there are fewer things in life more vindicating than a guy dumping you and then crawling right back.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
Thus vindicating those who bore influence in her formative years.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
