1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

vindictive

adjective

vin-ˈdik-tiv How to pronounce vindictive (audio)
Definition of vindictivenext
as in cruel
likely to seek revenge be careful not to annoy the vindictive old woman who lives down the street

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 vindictive They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026 Circe the feminist But this version of Circe – angry, vindictive and, yes, witchy – didn’t appear out of thin air. — Bailey Sincox, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026 The investigation of James Comey is vindictive and meritless—and unashamedly so. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026 Condor, Newton and Hiraga do their best to make Max’s actions believable, but her stubborn stupidity eventually requires more suspension of belief than a highly vindictive shark prowling a freshwater cave right next to the ocean. — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for vindictive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vindictive
  1. cruel
  2. malicious
  3. vengeful
  4. vicious
  5. revengeful
  6. hateful
  7. hostile
  8. petty
Adjective
  • Like her, Americans are also so tired of being screwed by an administration that’s not only grossly incompetent and cruel but corrupt as well.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Rather than heroic, these costly and horribly uncertain stunts come across callous and cruel.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of cruel
Adjective
  • After engaging with the box, the user sees a line of text, often obscured in a way to mask any malicious commands.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The rap star has a malicious prosecution case pending against the lawyer in federal court in New York.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of malicious
Adjective
  • Jimmy’s vengeful spirit comes back to haunt the Owens, who must enlist the help of Jet, Franny, and the group of reticent townswomen to banish him back to the nether-realm.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026
  • When her beloved dog Krypto is poisoned, Kara teams with a vengeful teen (Eve Ridley) and a rambunctious bounty hunter (Jason Momoa) to hunt down the vicious outlaw responsible.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of vengeful
Adjective
  • The former is a liberal democracy, the latter a vicious dictatorship whose rulers kill their own people to stay in power.
    — Max Boot, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Even fluffy Alana looks at him strangely — in heat and vicious.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of vicious
Adjective
  • DeMar DeRozan had 32, Russell Westbrook had a revengeful 22 and Malik Monk had 26 off the bench.
    — Zach Harper, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Brian Heil played Don Jose with angst and ultimately, revengeful rage as Carmen’s spurned lover.
    — Marcia Luttrell, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Dec. 2025
Definition of revengeful
Adjective
  • Mary Petchlikoff, 69, of Dearborn, recalls mobilizing on 9/11 to help protect Muslim students who were starting to receive some hateful harassment.
    — Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 12 Sep. 2026
  • Some critics predicted Mohammed would use a trial as a platform to spread hateful views of America and its allies.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of hateful
Adjective
  • Terrorism wasn’t a completely foreign concept, but the notion of a hostile, coordinated attack on our soil, at that scale, seemed like something that might only happen in a Tom Clancy novel or a summer blockbuster movie.
    — Michael Silver, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Now, civil engineer Jishen Qiu and his team wondered if engineers could exploit Mars’s hostile climate, rather than fighting the planet’s extremely low temperature.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of hostile
Adjective
  • The good and the bad of democracy — healthy debate and petty political theater — were on display that weekend in Brussels.
    — Esther King, The Dial, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Mehring’s characters include petty criminals, unscrupulous lawyers, Galician Jews, Freikorps heavies, local and international businessmen, Prussian generals, and the everyday citizens inhabiting the streets of Berlin’s old and rather dingy center.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of petty

Browse Nearby Words

vindicators
vindictive
vindictively
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vindictive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vindictive. Accessed 17 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of watershed

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All