vindictive

vin·dic·tive

adjective \vin-ˈdik-tiv\

Definition of VINDICTIVE

1

a : disposed to seek revenge : vengeful

b : intended for or involving revenge

2

: intended to cause anguish or hurt : spiteful

— vin·dic·tive·ly adverb

— vin·dic·tive·ness noun

Examples of VINDICTIVE

1. <be careful not to annoy the vindictive old woman who lives down the street>
2. Well, maybe actually waging vendettas is a bad idea, but to be known for your vindictiveness can be a great advantage, for then people will take care not to cross you. And maybe the surest way of acquiring a reputation for vindictiveness is actually to be vindictive. —David Papineau, New York Times Book Review, 11 May 1997
3. And though his [John Simon's] caustic wit can sometimes sound more personally vindictive than objectively critical, it allows him to plow through a lot of literary pretentiousness. —Andrea Barnet, New York Times Book Review, 19 Mar. 1989
4. The bear, seen in many aspects as humanlike, was subject to ambivalent attitudes: mainly, he was seen as a stand-in for benevolent supernaturals, but sometimes also as a dangerous and at times a vindictive and harmful one. —William W. Fitzhugh & Aron Crowell, Crossroads of Continents, 1988
5. A machine gun lashed at him from across the river. … In the darkness, it spat a vindictive white light like an acetylene torch, and its sound was terrifying. —Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead, 1948
6. It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive. —W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, 1919
7. In observing so long a silence I have been influenced much more by a vindictive purpose,—a purpose to punish you for your suspicion that I could possibly feel myself hurt or offended by any critical suggestion of yours … —William Cowper, 26 Feb. 1791, in William Cowper's Letters, Edward Verrall Lucas, editor, 1924

Origin of VINDICTIVE

Latin vindicta revenge, vindication, from vindicare

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to VINDICTIVE

Synonyms

revengeful, vengeful

Related Words

avenging, retaliatory; resentful, uncharitable, unforgiving; catty, cruel, despiteful, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, sadistic, spiteful, venomous, vicious, viperish, virulent; narrow-minded, petty, small-minded; grim, implacable, merciless, pitiless, relentless, unrelenting; baleful, baneful, evil; harsh, hostile, inimical, wrathful

Near Antonyms

charitable, forgiving, merciful, relenting; benevolent, benign, benignant, loving; brotherly, compassionate, good, good-hearted, kind, kindhearted, kindly, sympathetic, warm, warmhearted; altruistic, humane, humanitarian, philanthropic (also philanthropical); sweet, tender, tenderhearted; high-minded, magnanimous, noble

Rhymes with VINDICTIVE

addictive, afflictive, conflictive, constrictive, inflictive, predictive, restrictive