1
as in reparation
usually reprisals plural
payment to another for a loss or injury
a peace agreement that was rejected because it contained no provisions for reprisals
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2
as in retaliation
the act or an instance of responding to an injury with an injury
after defeating them last year in the finals, our team nervously awaited the expected reprisal by our archrivals in this year's tournament
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of reprisal
Casualties have been reported across the region due to Iranian reprisal attacks.
—
Ramon Padilla, USA Today, 2 Mar. 2026
There were forces stopping and interrogating people celebrating in their cars but there was no gunfire, said the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
—Dallas Morning News, 1 Mar. 2026
The witness spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
—Jon Gambrell, Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
On the Facebook post, commenters hinted that the reason may be fear of reprisals from area gangs.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for reprisal
Ramon Padilla, USA Today, 2 Mar. 2026
There were forces stopping and interrogating people celebrating in their cars but there was no gunfire, said the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
—Dallas Morning News, 1 Mar. 2026
The witness spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
—Jon Gambrell, Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
On the Facebook post, commenters hinted that the reason may be fear of reprisals from area gangs.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for reprisal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reprisal
Noun
-
That mirrors the world, where reparations for indigenous and enslaved people remain more of an intellectual argument far from an actual reality.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Questions of reparations are a fairly academic subject.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
All three lawsuits allege retaliation against town officials.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
16 Mar. 2026
-
The victims asked not to be identified out of fear of retaliation.—
Jose Fabian,
CBS News,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Musk is seeking as much as $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft — a staggering amount, that if awarded, would be one of the largest verdicts in history.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Her experience appears to be increasingly rare, as the Russian business newspaper Kommersant estimated in a report last week that just five days of outages caused 3 billion to 5 billion rubles ($37 million to $62 million) in damages to Moscow businesses.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Hezbollah denied the connection when speaking to the New York Times but said Ghazali’s motive for the synagogue attack was revenge for his family.—
Zach LaChance,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Mar. 2026
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According to the Office of the State's Attorney for Howard County, Wyketa Burgess, 40, conspired with her co-defendant, Dieneba Traore, to seek revenge against perpetrators who robbed Traore's son.—
Andrew Adeolu,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Doncic then sent the fans home happy, retribution for a loss in Denver that preceded their five-game winning streak.—
Benjamin Royer,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Those employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution, described being asked a wide range of questions about government contracts and campaign donations.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reprisal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reprisal. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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