as in cruel
likely to seek revenge
be careful not to annoy the vindictive old woman who lives down the street
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Recent Examples of vindictive
In February, the feud between way and actor Marlon Wayans reached an ugly head when the rapper published a series of cruel and vindictive social media posts targeting Wayans' transgender son, Kai.
—
Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Trump rules America like a petty, vindictive crime boss.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 23 July 2025
The end of the sequence sees Veronica unexpectedly — yet enthusiastically — fall in with popular, vindictive queen bee Heather Chandler (McKenzie Kurtz) and her lackey Heathers Duke and McNamara (Olivia Hardy and Elizabeth Teeter, respectively).
—Jen Juneau, People.com, 23 July 2025
Others are more hesitant to face off against an aggressive federal government and a vindictive president looking to inflict pain on his political enemies.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for vindictive
Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Trump rules America like a petty, vindictive crime boss.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 23 July 2025
The end of the sequence sees Veronica unexpectedly — yet enthusiastically — fall in with popular, vindictive queen bee Heather Chandler (McKenzie Kurtz) and her lackey Heathers Duke and McNamara (Olivia Hardy and Elizabeth Teeter, respectively).
—Jen Juneau, People.com, 23 July 2025
Others are more hesitant to face off against an aggressive federal government and a vindictive president looking to inflict pain on his political enemies.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for vindictive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vindictive
Adjective
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The cruel irony is that the very systems designed to promote inclusion can inadvertently reinforce exclusion.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
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And of course, to serve as cruel juxtaposition, deGrom retired the Mets in order in the bottom of the inning on just six pitches.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In addition, users will be able to permanently block a user from quote-sharing any of their posts, as a hedge against malicious dunks.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
13 Sep. 2025
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That means malicious software is getting smarter, faster and harder to detect.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Our vengeful protagonist, Aris, wants to journey through the gates to kill the gods.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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Daniel, meanwhile, stumbles upon Laura's phone, which fell under a side table during her fight with Cherry, and listens to the recording of Cherry's mom, Tracey (Karen Henthorn), warning that her daughter is darker and more vengeful than Daniel ever knew.—
Julia Moore,
People.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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As and when evidence against that narrative comes out, either via six monthly reports or from some other source, the crash in the stock price will be more vicious than otherwise.—
Shivaram Rajgopal,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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In these homes, the conflict between budgeting and feeding kids well creates huge psychological stress for parents, which can lead to anxiety and depression, fueling the vicious cycle of stress and unhealthy eating, Beresin said.—
Yasmin Tayag,
The Atlantic,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Fans hoping for a revengeful scoring outburst were left wanting a little more, however, as Dončić — a career 28.6 points per game scorer — added only 10 points over the final three quarters.—
Rohan Nadkarni,
NBC News,
26 Feb. 2025
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Eventually, this revengeful streak will result in loneliness and isolation.—
Nicole Froio,
refinery29.com,
29 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Political analyst Matthew Dowd took to MSNBC to say that Kirk’s hateful words had led to hateful actions.—
Editorial,
Boston Herald,
12 Sep. 2025
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In other words, Cartman is irate that Trump has stolen his hateful, vindictive shtick.—
Nick Marx,
The Conversation,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Thanks to climate change, Cosmism’s ambivalent and generally hostile attitude towards the natural world should also sound familiar.—
Tim Brinkhof,
Big Think,
12 Sep. 2025
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Another camera designed to withstand the hostile environment of space was used outside.—
Catherine Muccigrosso,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The newspaper reported at the time that Zinn has a criminal record dating back to 1989 that includes dozens of convictions for petty crimes such as criminal trespass, theft of services, interfering with a police officer and disturbing the peace.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
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The petty back-and-forth continued throughout the interview and escalated to the point that Dash threatened to get physical with CTG.—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vindictive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vindictive. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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