Synonyms of retaliating

retaliating

verb

present participle of retaliate

as in avenging

to punish in kind the wrongdoer responsible for

retaliated his neighbor's malicious destruction of his flower garden by cutting down the man's prize apple tree

Synonyms & Similar Words

• avenging
• revenging
• punishing
• redressing
• requiting
• getting even (for)
• penalizing
• venging
• disciplining
• chastising
• castigating
• correcting
• repaying
• scourging
• compensating
• fixing
• chastening
• righting
• getting
• paying (back)
• recompensing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• excusing
• forgiving
• remitting
• condoning
• pardoning
• absolving

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of retaliating

The attacks again raised the possibility that Gulf Arab states were retaliating against Iran without discussing it in public. — Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026

Brooks, a South Carolina congressman, was retaliating for a speech Sumner had given condemning slavery and personally insulting a relative of Brooks. — Paul Quigley, The Conversation, 13 July 2026

Those attacks on Iran raised the possibility that Gulf Arab states were retaliating. — Jon Gambrell, Fortune, 13 July 2026

The New York Times filed a counterclaim Friday against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing the agency of retaliating against the publication for its reporting via a race- and gender-based discrimination lawsuit. — Liam Reilly, CNN Money, 10 July 2026

The most recent controversy came in January, when the county paid $135,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused Kramer of improperly slashing a property’s value by millions of dollars — then retaliating against the employee who raised alarms about it. — Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 7 July 2026

Israel launched airstrikes on Beirut over the weekend, which led to Iran retaliating with its own strike on Israel. — Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 10 June 2026

Nicolas Matthew Scelfo of Brooklyn, New York, faces up to 10 years in prison after being charged with influencing, impeding, and retaliating against a federal officer by threat. — Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 10 June 2026

Anthropic sued, claiming the Pentagon is illegally retaliating by stigmatizing the company with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. — ABC News, 31 May 2026