revenge

American  

[ri-venj] / rɪˈvɛndʒ /

verb (used with object)

• revenges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• revenged,
  past participle,  past
• revenging
  present participle

1. to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong on behalf of, especially in a resentful or vindictive spirit.

   He revenged his murdered brother.

2. to take vengeance for; inflict punishment for; avenge.

   He revenged his brother's murder.

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verb (used without object)

• revenges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• revenged,
  past participle,  past
• revenging
  present participle

1. to take revenge.

noun

1. the act of revenging; retaliation for injuries or wrongs; vengeance.

   Synonyms:

   requital

2. something done in vengeance.

3. the desire to retaliate; vindictiveness.

4. an opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction.

revenge British  

/ rɪˈvɛndʒ /

noun

1. the act of retaliating for wrongs or injury received; vengeance

2. something done as a means of vengeance

3. the desire to take vengeance or retaliate

4. a return match, regarded as a loser's opportunity to even the score

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verb

1. to inflict equivalent injury or damage for (injury received); retaliate in return for

2. to take vengeance for (oneself or another); avenge

Usage

What does revenge mean? Revenge is the act or process of retaliating against or punishing someone for some kind of harm that they caused or wrongdoing that they did (whether real or perceived). It can also refer to the result of such efforts, as in After all this time, I will have revenge against those who have wronged me!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. Revenge is often planned out over a period of time—hitting someone back right after they hit you could be referred to as retaliation, but probably wouldn’t be called revenge. An informal synonym is payback—getting someone back for something they did to you, especially after time has passed. The related word vengeance can be used as an even more intense synonym for revenge, but it also commonly refers to a desire for revenge, as in He was filled with vengeance. Less commonly, revenge can be used as a verb meaning to get revenge, as in I will revenge the theft of my sister’s necklace or I will revenge myself for the crimes committed against me. The related word avenge is much more commonly used in this way. To avenge is to get revenge or to inflict some form of punishment in retaliation for harm or wrongdoing done by someone else. However, avenge is more associated with justice and doesn’t always imply the same level of anger that revenge does. The adjective revengeful is used to describe someone who is determined to get revenge or someone who is inclined to seek revenge—someone who is vindictive. A more commonly used synonym is vengeful. Example: Revenge never ends well, and becoming obsessed with it is like letting your enemy defeat you yet again.

Synonym Usage

See avenge. Revenge, reprisal, retribution, vengeance suggest a punishment, or injury inflicted in return for one received. Revenge is the carrying out of a bitter desire to injure another for a wrong done to oneself or to those who are felt to be like oneself: to plot revenge. Reprisal, formerly any act of retaliation, is used specifically in warfare for retaliation upon the enemy for its (usually unlawful) actions: to make a raid in reprisal for one by the enemy. Retribution suggests just or deserved punishment, often without personal motives, for some evil done: a just retribution for wickedness. Vengeance is usually wrathful, vindictive, furious revenge: implacable vengeance.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonrevenge
  noun
• nonrevenger
  noun
• prerevenge
  noun
• revenger
  noun
• revengeless
  adjective
• revenging
  adjective
• unrevenged
  adjective
• unrevenging
  adjective
• revengingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• revenging
  present
• revenged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• revenge
  simple
• revenges
  simple
• have revenged
  perfect
• has revenged
  perfect
• am revenging
  progressive
• are revenging
  progressive
• is revenging
  progressive
• have been revenging
  perfect progressive
• has been revenging
  perfect progressive

Past

• revenged
  simple
• had revenged
  perfect
• was revenging
  progressive
• were revenging
  progressive
• had been revenging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will revenge
  simple
• will have revenged
  perfect
• will be revenging
  progressive
• will have been revenging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of revenge

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English revengen (verb), from Middle French, Old French revengier, from re- re- + vengier “to avenge”; see avenge

Explanation

Someone seeking revenge is looking to retaliate for a wrong that has been done. Sometimes a word can be used as either a noun or a verb, without changing the spelling. That's the case with revenge. You can take revenge (noun) on someone who hurt you, or you can revenge (verb) the hurt, punishing the person who wronged you. While revenge may be sweet, it usually just leads to more revenge from the other side, and so on. While that makes a good Shakespeare play, it can get pretty wearing in real life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

revenge revenges revenged revenging

Clytemnestra’s revenge, an afterthought in this hero’s journey, is central to Greek drama and classical art as an example of unequal justice.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026

Instead of shedding tears or vowing revenge, we hear the protagonist in the song begging the mistress who holds the power to relinquish it.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Banks, Weiner said, “used his wealth and used his purse strings” to seek revenge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The actor stars as a bodyguard out for revenge and on a cargo ship in this lackluster action thriller.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Once, Shakhuni had been evil and bent on revenge.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

“By most mechanical hand, I shall have such revenges on you,” Peter warns early on, gloriously emanating beams of loathing at the always mildly amused Ford.

From Time ● Dec. 7, 2016

He is an enigmatic born leader, a delicate object of myriad desires and revenges, a picker of flowers and performer of mime.

From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2016

The whirligig of time, Grandage implies, brings in its revenges.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 10, 2012

Yet the whirligig of time brings in its revenges.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 14, 2011

Twisted words, pranks, omissions, riddles, scandals, not to mention their revenges upon one another for ancient, half-remembered slights.

From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black

I, like everyone else, have several times been a victim of harassment in the workplace but we must not throw out fairness in our determination to be revenged on such behavior.

From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2017

It went to his head and he soon became insufferable, alienating all his new literary "friends", who revenged themselves when he published his second novel, The Double.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 24, 2010

By crushing the "Old Regulars," which had not lost a New Orleans election in 50 years, Senator Long revenged the organization's break with him last year, its defeat of his candidate for mayor in January.

From Time Magazine Archive

That some of the German people consider their defeat a dirty trick to be revenged some day is hardly spot news.

From Time Magazine Archive

Nourishing a grievance against the Arch- Community-Songster was useless; there was no possibility of being revenged on the Chief Bottler or the Assistant Predestinator.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

As he tells it, logistics discount the revenging Middle Missourian theory.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 9, 2015

Walt is in this for glory, for self-aggrandizement, for revenging his younger self.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2012

More recent films refuse to see Jane as a victim and treat her as an artist who, like her creator, has secret ways of revenging herself on the world.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2011

Now intent on revenging himself on his own fighter, Nick sends Ward into the ring with instructions calculated to allow the champion, whose manager has been informed of the plan, to win.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mr. Wickham’s chief object was unquestionably my sister’s fortune, which is thirty thousand pounds; but I cannot help supposing that the hope of revenging himself on me was a strong inducement.

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Related Words

• attack
• reprisal
• retribution
• vengeance