vengeful
Americanadjective
-
desiring or seeking vengeance; vindictive.
a vengeful attitude.
- Synonyms:
- spiteful , revengeful
-
characterized by or showing a vindictive spirit.
vengeful intentions.
-
serving to inflict vengeance.
a vengeful killing.
adjective
-
desiring revenge; vindictive
-
characterized by or indicating a desire for revenge
a vengeful glance
-
inflicting or taking revenge
with vengeful blows
Usage
What does vengeful mean? Vengeful 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).Vengeful also means inclined to seek revenge. The adjective vindictive is a close synonym. A much less commonly used synonym is revengeful.Vengeful can be used to describe people or their actions or attitude.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 often what it means when someone is described as vengeful.Example: Being vengeful does more damage to you than to the person you are intent on destroying.
Other Word Forms
- unvengeful adjective
- vengefully adverb
- vengefulness noun
Etymology
Origin of vengeful
First recorded in 1580–90; shortened form of revengeful
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.
"Zach was never bitter, he wasn't vengeful at all, he was the most kind man and he adored his years of service," said Anna-Louise.
From BBC
“He was vengeful and petty, and certainly politically popular and politically powerful,” Rivera said.
From Salon
Though mean-spirited, the jester Rigoletto — Verdi’s hapless, vengeful hunchback — wins our hearts as the outsider whom a heartless world so often abuses.
From Los Angeles Times
In the world of “Final Destination,” death wants what it wants, and it is a vengeful god.
From Los Angeles Times
She lets them go about their vengeful business and crumbles to the floor.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
