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vindictive. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vindictive, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
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English
Etymology
From Latin vindicta (“vengeance”) + -ive.
Pronunciation
Adjective
vindictive (comparative more vindictive, superlative most vindictive)
- Having a tendency to seek revenge when wronged, vengeful.
- Synonyms: vengeful, revengeful, nasty; see also Thesaurus:vengeful
1834, L E L, chapter XXXIX, in Francesca Carrara. , volume III, London: Richard Bentley, , (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 326:Lord Avonleigh was an angry rather than a vindictive man. Vindictiveness requires more energy of character than he possessed. Indeed, it may be questioned whether he would of himself have taken the violent measures of the preceding evening.
1933 September, H G Wells, “Introduction: The Dream Book of Dr. Philip Raven”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 5:The victors will exact vindictive penalties and the losers of course will undertake to pay, but none of them realizes that money is going to do the most extraordinary things to them when they begin upon that.
- (obsolete) Punitive.
- Synonyms: punishing, punitory
Derived terms
Translations
having a tendency to seek revenge
- Armenian: վրեժխնդիր (hy) (vrežxndir), ոխակալ (hy) (oxakal), քինոտ (hy) (kʻinot)
- Belarusian: мсці́вы (mscívy), по́мслівы (pómslivy)
- Bulgarian: отмъсти́телен (bg) (otmǎstítelen)
- Czech: mstivý (cs), pomstychtivý (cs)
- Danish: hævngerrig (da)
- Dutch: rancuneus (nl), wraakzuchtig (nl)
- Finnish: kostonhaluinen (fi), kostonhimoinen
- French: vindicatif (fr), rancuneux (fr)
- Georgian: შურისმაძიებელი (šurismaʒiebeli), შურისმგებელი (šurismgebeli)
- German: rachsüchtig (de)
- Hungarian: bosszúszomjas (hu)
- Icelandic: hefnigjarn, heiftrækinn
- Ido: venjema (io), venjavida
- Irish: aifearach, agrach
- Italian: vendicativo (it)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: خوێنەخوێ (xwênexwê)
- Macedonian: одмазднички (odmazdnički), осветлив (osvetliv)
- Maori: whakamau, kaikiko, turatura, whakakaitoa
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: hevngjerrig (no)
- Plautdietsch: racheewent
- Polish: mściwy (pl), złośliwy (pl)
- Portuguese: vingativo (pt), vingador (pt)
- Romanian: vindicativ (ro), răzbunător (ro), dușmănos (ro), ranchiunos (ro)
- Russian: мсти́тельный (ru) (mstítelʹnyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: dìoghaltach
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: осветољу̀бив
- Roman: osvetoljùbiv (sh)
- Slovak: pomstivý, pomstychtivý
- Slovene: maščevalen
- Spanish: vindicativo (es), vengativo
- Swedish: hämndlysten (sv)
- Ukrainian: мсти́вий (mstývyj)
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Further reading
- “vindictive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “vindictive”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “vindictive”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.