vendetta
Americannoun
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vendettas
plural
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
I’ve seen Tanden get into a headline-making spat with progressive blogger Matt Bruenig; I’ve even watched her carry on a one-sided vendetta against Susan Sarandon.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
"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
"It became a personal vendetta and he accused me of all sorts," he said, adding he never responds to abuse on social media.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
It will be more orderly and less chaotic, less driven by impulse and vendetta, more discriminating between allies and adversaries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
Apparently Adolf Hitler has a vendetta against tobacco, finds it filthy and disgusting, and his military police and their assistants are not meant to smoke at work.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
Feldstein Soto has also been accused of mismanaging her office and using the city’s prosecutorial powers for personal vendettas in multiple lawsuits, allegations she has repeatedly denied.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
Some of his extracurricular fixations—personal vendettas, online foolery—could get less attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
So this latest declaration may be yet another of his vendettas.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2024
Mr Turnbull, who is also area manager at Cleveland Fire Brigade, said personal vendettas and inter-community disputes also play a part.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2024
What do you say, for example, to the Kentucky and Tennessee mountaineers, with their vendettas of blood descending from father to son?
From Red Men and White by Frederic Remington
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
