vindictiveness
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vindictiveness
Explanation
Vindictiveness is a strong desire to get back at someone. People who hold grudges and seek revenge are full of vindictiveness. If someone steps on your toe, and you put on boots to stomp back, you’re full of vindictiveness. Use the noun vindictiveness to describe the need for vengeance, or the urge to retaliate against someone who's done you wrong. If you can’t let go of the anger that comes from being mistreated or hurt and you’re plotting revenge, you’re full vindictiveness. At the heart of vindictiveness is the Latin root word vindicta, which means "revenge."
Vocabulary lists containing vindictiveness
1984
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Across Five Aprils
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Little Brother
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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.
This was raw vindictiveness, since we doubt Iran has given up on killing them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
"There is a sort of public vindictiveness directed against them," one of the three lawyers, Yaël Hayat, said.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
“It is not prosecutorial vindictiveness to continue a case after a deal has been rejected,” McCrae writes.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 28, 2023
Miss Havisham is the epitome of gothic tragedy, representing lost love, bitterness, and vindictiveness, a complicated brew brought to life by an array of formidable actors including Anne Bancroft, Gillian Anderson, and Helena Bonham Carter.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2023
This vindictiveness was urged on by men in high places who resented the President’s spirit of clemency as violently as they resented the tenacity of the South.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
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.
