retaliation
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retaliation
Explanation
Retaliation is an act of revenge. Before you initiate retaliation on someone who has wronged you, consider whether he or she might have a ninja alter ego and a set of nunchucks stashed away. The noun retaliation stems from the Latin retaliare, meaning “pay back in kind.” Notice the word kind in that definition. Retaliation used to have both good and evil connotations. Now, though, it’s important to read that kind as synonymous with type or sort because retaliation has since lost its positive sense. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
Vocabulary lists containing retaliation
Fahrenheit 451
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The Crucible
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The Hate U Give
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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.
"So employment, public accommodation, sale and rental of real property, credit and financing, and government practices. Retaliation is also a covered jurisdiction."
From Salon • Mar. 6, 2023
Retaliation against Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies who sheltered the terrorist group drove the United States to invade Afghanistan in 2001, the beginning of a two-decade-long war that ravaged the country.
From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2022
Retaliation In Holmes’ and Balwani’s efforts to get ahead of the story, Balwani tried to figure out who Carreyrou’s sources were.
From The Verge • Nov. 30, 2021
Retaliation is banned against people who report allegations, with risk of firing for staff or expulsion for students found to have lashed out in a retaliatory way at anyone reporting misconduct claims.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2021
Retaliation had been ordered, and President Johnson saw no reason to postpone.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
