REQUITE Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the verb 'requite' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of requite are reciprocate , retaliate , and return . While all these words mean "to give back usually in kind or in quantity," requite implies a paying back according to one's preference and often not equivalently. // requited her love with cold indifference

Q: When can 'reciprocate' be used instead of 'requite'?

The words reciprocate and requite can be used in similar contexts, but reciprocate implies a mutual or equivalent exchange or a paying back of what one has received. // reciprocated their hospitality by inviting them for a visit

Q: When is 'retaliate' a more appropriate choice than 'requite'?

In some situations, the words retaliate and requite are roughly equivalent. However, retaliate usually implies a paying back of injury in exact kind, often vengefully. // the enemy retaliated by executing their prisoners

Q: When might 'return' be a better fit than 'requite'?

While the synonyms return and requite are close in meaning, return implies a paying or giving back. // returned their call // return good for evil

requite

verb

ri-ˈkwīt

Definition of requite next

as in to compensate

to provide (someone) with a just payment for loss or injury the company requited the employee who had fallen on the ice while leaving work by promptly paying all his medical bills, hoping that would stave off a lawsuit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in to avenge

to punish in kind the wrongdoer responsible for the future writer would later requite the abuse he suffered at the hands of his classmates by creating scathing portraits of them in his novels

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to repay

to make a return for I fear my love for her will never be requited

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb requite contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of requite are reciprocate, retaliate, and return. While all these words mean "to give back usually in kind or in quantity," requite implies a paying back according to one's preference and often not equivalently.

requited her love with cold indifference

When can reciprocate be used instead of requite?

The words reciprocate and requite can be used in similar contexts, but reciprocate implies a mutual or equivalent exchange or a paying back of what one has received.

reciprocated their hospitality by inviting them for a visit

When is retaliate a more appropriate choice than requite?

In some situations, the words retaliate and requite are roughly equivalent. However, retaliate usually implies a paying back of injury in exact kind, often vengefully.

the enemy retaliated by executing their prisoners

When might return be a better fit than requite?

While the synonyms return and requite are close in meaning, return implies a paying or giving back.

returned their call

return good for evil

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of requite But after years of wooing Silicon Valley, the Defense Department’s interest became requited, with companies like Amazon seeing opportunities to replace the government’s hodge-podge data centers with cloud computing, for which the Pentagon was offering a $10 billion contract prize in 2019. —

Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2025 The individuals are putting money to work furiously, in individual stocks, demonstrating faith not in Trump, but in business, and it is being requited and will continue to be requited with higher stock prices. —

Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 July 2025 Reflecting Lee’s turmoil as he’s tormented by heroin withdrawals and his not entirely requited affection for Allerton, the film is moody, and the sets reflect the interior landscapes of its characters. —

Rachel Davies, Architectural Digest, 16 Dec. 2024 In the book, the main character falls in love with an android that only pretends to requite his feelings. —

IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2023 But his love wasn’t always requited. —

Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023 Looks like the love Taylor Swift has for Grey’s Anatomy is fully requited! —

Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 15 Feb. 2023 An intensity which can be called religious characterizes the devotion shown to their community by literally millions of people who routinely sacrifice — time, money, labor — to remark that devotion; and, using their own language, methods, and skills, to requite the community. —

William F. Buckley Jr., National Review, 26 Nov. 2020 There’s a lot to requite my love. —

Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 18 Aug. 2020

Recent Examples of Synonyms for requite

Verb

For the Delfonts, who use a tape-recorder to capture this desperate plea, Leonora’s words serve as irrefutable proof that an academic career has failed to compensate for the absence of a husband and child.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 June 2026
Schools that struggled to make the grade on math and English swiftly cut back on other subjects to compensate.

— Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026