as in acquitted
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1
as in exonerated
to free from a charge of wrongdoing
vowed that the evidence would completely vindicate him
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in confirmed
to give evidence or testimony to the truth or factualness of
recent discoveries have generally vindicated the physicist's theories
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Recent Examples of vindicated
Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Jan. 2026
Some were celebrated in their time; others were silenced, only to be vindicated centuries later.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 25 Dec. 2025
Bain had three and felt vindicated.
—Manny Navarro, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2025
Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and other survivors, said Saturday that her client feels vindicated after the document release.
—Michael R. Sisak, Twin Cities, 20 Dec. 2025
On Saturday, when the NFL announced its list of fines from the Week 13 showdowns, Prescott wasn't vindicated as the league didn't see enough in the hit to fine Gillotte for his actions during the game.
—Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Still, there’s a part of him that feels vindicated.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 18 Nov. 2025
When that news finally came, the actor/producer/host admits he felt vindicated.
—Kristen Baldwin, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Nov. 2025
Unsurprising to no one, Rowling and her ilk felt vindicated by the report, expressing their content across social media.
—Quispe López, Them., 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
Those fans seemed vindicated when the brash Johnson came in and guided the Cowboys to their most losses ever in a 1-15 debut.
—Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Jan. 2026
Some were celebrated in their time; others were silenced, only to be vindicated centuries later.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 25 Dec. 2025
Bain had three and felt vindicated.
—Manny Navarro, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2025
Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing Epstein accuser Maria Farmer and other survivors, said Saturday that her client feels vindicated after the document release.
—Michael R. Sisak, Twin Cities, 20 Dec. 2025
On Saturday, when the NFL announced its list of fines from the Week 13 showdowns, Prescott wasn't vindicated as the league didn't see enough in the hit to fine Gillotte for his actions during the game.
—Andrew McCarty, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Still, there’s a part of him that feels vindicated.
—Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 18 Nov. 2025
When that news finally came, the actor/producer/host admits he felt vindicated.
—Kristen Baldwin, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Nov. 2025
Unsurprising to no one, Rowling and her ilk felt vindicated by the report, expressing their content across social media.
—Quispe López, Them., 30 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vindicated
Verb
-
Dugan pleaded not guilty, and she was acquitted on a lesser misdemeanor charge.—
Michael Sinkewicz,
FOXNews.com,
7 Jan. 2026
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Only four were acquitted of all charges, according to NPR; the rest were found guilty by judge or jury on at least some counts.—
Jamie Thompson,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Things became clearer on December 28, when Dreame released teaser images and confirmed that its first car would debut at CES 2026.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Jan. 2026
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His maiden first-class — let alone Test — century was confirmed with a tension-lancing scythe over midwicket in the final session, writes Dominic Fifield.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
What counts as a cleared sidewalk?—
Quinn Clark,
jsonline.com,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Videos circulating on social media and verified by The New York Times show the shooting of a woman by a federal agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday, as well as the moments immediately before and after.—
Devon Lum,
Twin Cities,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Though their observation has yet to be verified by wildlife biologists, Kogo and Tapanes are working with Burmese pythons specialists at the University of Florida to confirm the species.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But the department has argued the sheer volume of documents that need to be found, uploaded, reviewed, redacted and published has forced it to instead release the files online on a rolling basis, with a series of enormous document dumps over the course of several days in mid-December.—
Joe Walsh,
CBS News,
6 Jan. 2026
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Skelton argued that the city’s code lays out a specific process for declaring an animal as dangerous, which often entails a day in municipal court.—
Taylor O'Connor,
Kansas City Star,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
There are post-release government resources for people exiting prison, but none tailored to the extraordinary circumstances of the exonerated — wronged by the legal system, in many cases over decades, and then suddenly put on the street with no preparation or plan for facing the outside world.—
Olivia Olander,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Jan. 2026
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The civil rights counts against Buck Aldridge are not related to the fatal shooting of the exonerated man, Leonard Cure, whom Aldridge killed during a struggle after a traffic stop in 2023.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC news,
8 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vindicated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vindicated. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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