as in vengeful
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Dissimilar Words
as in revenging
to punish in kind the wrongdoer responsible for
a play about a prince who struggles to avenge his father's death
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of avenging
David Sims, The Atlantic, 31 May 2018
Iron Man and his avenging friends are onto Phase 3 now.)
—David Greenwald, OregonLive.com, 13 June 2017
Sportsday Staff, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
Klay Thompson scored 16 of his 23 points in the frame, avenging his scoreless performance in the play-in opener a year earlier with the Golden State Warriors, and Anthony Davis scored a game-high 27 points.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 1 Jan. 2026
During the installment set in Thailand, Gries reprised his role as Greg Hunt, a former lover of Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge), while Goggins joined the show as Rick Hatchett, a grifter who was set on avenging his father's death.
—Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 31 Dec. 2025
Day is looking forward to avenging last year's loss.
—Matt Audilet, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
Grainier works with too many men to count, and watches as many get felled by falling logs, shot by avenging gunmen, or, in the case of one Chinese laborer, tossed into a ravine by a racist posse.
—Rory Doherty, Time, 21 Nov. 2025
The Eagles’ task of the week involves avenging their loss to the Giants in Week 6.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
The movie tells the story of a teenager avenging the deaths of his family at the hands of hordes of carnivorous demons and, against all the odds, it has been embraced by critics and audiences alike.
—Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Ruisz and Durkin hooked up again on a 51-yard TD pass midway through the second quarter as the Eagles built a 28-0 halftime lead on the way to avenging last season’s 42-27 loss to the Thunderbolts and giving Murphy a win in his debut as Sandburg’s head coach.
—Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
Toss in his portly stature and Hoskins was a perfect choice for the heroic plumber Mario, the avenging angel who stomps through worlds of evil turtles and living mushrooms, even if the actor was neither Italian nor American.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 31 May 2018
Iron Man and his avenging friends are onto Phase 3 now.)
—David Greenwald, OregonLive.com, 13 June 2017
Verb
The Stars and Golden Knights played playoff series in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024 — with the Stars falling to the Golden Knights in the 2023 Western Conference finals before avenging that loss in a thrilling Game 7 win in the first round of 2024.
—Sportsday Staff, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
Klay Thompson scored 16 of his 23 points in the frame, avenging his scoreless performance in the play-in opener a year earlier with the Golden State Warriors, and Anthony Davis scored a game-high 27 points.
—Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 1 Jan. 2026
During the installment set in Thailand, Gries reprised his role as Greg Hunt, a former lover of Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge), while Goggins joined the show as Rick Hatchett, a grifter who was set on avenging his father's death.
—Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 31 Dec. 2025
Day is looking forward to avenging last year's loss.
—Matt Audilet, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025
Grainier works with too many men to count, and watches as many get felled by falling logs, shot by avenging gunmen, or, in the case of one Chinese laborer, tossed into a ravine by a racist posse.
—Rory Doherty, Time, 21 Nov. 2025
The Eagles’ task of the week involves avenging their loss to the Giants in Week 6.
—Mike Jones, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
The movie tells the story of a teenager avenging the deaths of his family at the hands of hordes of carnivorous demons and, against all the odds, it has been embraced by critics and audiences alike.
—Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Ruisz and Durkin hooked up again on a 51-yard TD pass midway through the second quarter as the Eagles built a 28-0 halftime lead on the way to avenging last season’s 42-27 loss to the Thunderbolts and giving Murphy a win in his debut as Sandburg’s head coach.
—Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for avenging
Adjective
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Blunt is at her most formidable in vengeful mother mode, and The English’s dark, foreboding atmosphere will haunt you in the best possible fashion.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The freaky happenings in this seemingly antiseptic city include clashes with werewolves, bigfoot, aliens, ghosts, mummies, alternate dimensions, vengeful tornados, and Elvis!—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Burroughs dismissed a retaliatory arrest claim made against Payne, the Boston police officer named in the lawsuit.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
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Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed 71,795 Palestinians, including 523 since this ceasefire started, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.—
Samy Magdy,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
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State officials claim federal government is retaliating after failed funding cutoff attempts; feds say surge targets criminal immigrants.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Jan. 2026
-
Fleming eventually left the agency and sued the city, accusing Lee of discriminating and retaliating against him for conducting investigations.—
Alex Brizee,
Idaho Statesman,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The courts give the executive branch the benefit of the doubt in many cases, including, for example, when prosecutions are accused of being selective or vindictive.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
3 Feb. 2026
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The legendary film from 1990 hinges on Bates’ all-consuming transformation into Annie Wilkes, a mousy woman dismissed by the world only to reveal her vindictive nature when the rules collapse.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Today, Americans face a punishing one-two combination of high car prices and expensive borrowing rates.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
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There were some really interesting things happening where this is getting rolled into health curriculum and addressing this just like any other risky behavior and educating kids instead of punishing them or threatening them.—
Dana Taylor,
USA Today,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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DeMar DeRozan had 32, Russell Westbrook had a revengeful 22 and Malik Monk had 26 off the bench.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
13 Jan. 2026
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Brian Heil played Don Jose with angst and ultimately, revengeful rage as Carmen’s spurned lover.—
Marcia Luttrell,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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But Saccharine slips off the rails, especially once Hana convinces Josie that Bertha’s spirit has latched onto her in malevolent ways, growing bigger and stronger all the time.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Feb. 2026
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The deceased individuals who were subjected to corpse-killing were not always once powerful and malevolent, like King Abel.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Russian general was one of several GRU officials sanctioned by the United States in 2016 for wide-ranging malicious cyber activity directed at undermining US democratic processes.—
Anna Chernova,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Avenging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/avenging. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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