First Known Use: 15th century
Dictionary
vindictive
adjective vin·dic·tive \vin-ˈdik-tiv\
: having or showing a desire to hurt someone who has hurt or caused problems for you
Full Definition of VINDICTIVE
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Examples of VINDICTIVE
- Well, maybe actually waging vendettas is a bad idea, but to be known for your vindictiveness can be a great advantage, for then people will take care not to cross you. And maybe the surest way of acquiring a reputation for vindictiveness is actually to be vindictive. —David Papineau, New York Times Book Review, 11 May 1997
- And though his [John Simon's] caustic wit can sometimes sound more personally vindictive than objectively critical, it allows him to plow through a lot of literary pretentiousness. —Andrea Barnet, New York Times Book Review, 19 Mar. 1989
- The bear, seen in many aspects as humanlike, was subject to ambivalent attitudes: mainly, he was seen as a stand-in for benevolent supernaturals, but sometimes also as a dangerous and at times a vindictive and harmful one. —William W. Fitzhugh & Aron Crowell, Crossroads of Continents, 1988
- A machine gun lashed at him from across the river. … In the darkness, it spat a vindictive white light like an acetylene torch, and its sound was terrifying. —Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead, 1948
- It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive. —W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, 1919
- In observing so long a silence I have been influenced much more by a vindictive purpose,—a purpose to punish you for your suspicion that I could possibly feel myself hurt or offended by any critical suggestion of yours … —William Cowper, 26 Feb. 1791, in William Cowper's Letters, Edward Verrall Lucas, editor, 1924
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Origin of VINDICTIVE
Latin vindicta revenge, vindication, from vindicare
Related to VINDICTIVE
- Synonyms
- revengeful, vengeful
Rhymes with VINDICTIVE
VINDICTIVELY Defined for Kids
vindictive
adjective vin·dic·tive \vin-ˈdik-tiv\
Definition of VINDICTIVE for Kids
1
: likely to seek revenge <a vindictive person>
2
: meant to be harmful <vindictive remarks>
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