revengeful

American  

[ri-venj-fuhl] / rɪˈvɛndʒ fəl /

adjective

1. determined to have revenge; vindictive.

   Synonyms:

   malignant, malicious, malevolent

   Antonyms:

   forgiving

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revengeful British  

/ rɪˈvɛndʒfʊl /

adjective

1. full of or characterized by desire for vengeance; vindictive

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Usage

What does revengeful mean? Revengeful is used to describe someone who is determined to get revenge—retaliation against or punishment of someone for some kind of harm that they caused or wrongdoing that they did (whether real or perceived). Revengeful also means inclined to seek revenge. The adjective vindictive is a close synonym. A more commonly used synonym is vengeful. Revengeful can be used to describe people or their actions. Revenge often involves an attempt to get even by inflicting similar harm to the person who initially harmed the person seeking revenge. Revenge has several other synonyms that each have different shades of meaning, including retribution, retaliation, and reprisal. But more than these words, revenge implies that such retaliation is personal and motivated by a deep anger and perhaps an obsessive desire to get even. This is usually what it means when someone is described as revengeful. Example: Being revengeful does more damage to you than to the person you are intent on destroying.

Related Words

See spiteful.

Other Word Forms

• revengefully adverb
• revengefulness noun
• unrevengeful adjective
• unrevengefully adverb
• unrevengefulness noun

Etymology

Origin of revengeful

First recorded in 1580–90; revenge + -ful

Example Sentences

“The real evils in war,” St. Augustine once wrote, are “love of violence, revengeful cruelty, fierce and implacable enmity, wild resistance, and the lust of power.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025

“I think it is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how, in this transitional period, nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don’t start ginning up scatterbrained or revengeful premises,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2016

"It is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how in this transitional period, nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cock, people don't start moving on scatter-brained or revengeful premises," Kerry added.

From Reuters • Jun. 27, 2016

“Some people become very depressed and they retreat, and other people become very angry and revengeful and they want to get back at their partner.”

From US News • Oct. 27, 2014

The thought of her mortification kept me company for a long time, but the sounds of music and laughter and Cisco Kid screams broke into my pleasant revengeful reveries.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou