Word.ws English Dictionary

vindictive

UK/vɪnˈdɪk.tɪv/

vindictive adjective: having a tendency to seek revenge when wronged, vengeful.

Adjective

vindictive (comparative more vindictive, superlative most vindictive)

  1. Having a tendency to seek revenge when wronged, vengeful.
    • 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.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXXIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 326
    • The vindictive mockery in her voice made his brain quiver.1920 November 9, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter XVIII, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [by Thomas Seltzer] for subscribers only, →OCLC
  2. (obsolete) Punitive.

vindictive meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

vindictive in Tamil

பழிஉணர்ச்சியுடைய, பழிக்குப்பழி வாங்கும் தன்மையுடைய, பழிக்குப் பழிவாங்கு, பழிவாங்கு இயல்புடைய, பழிவாங்கும் இயல்புடைய

vindictive in Urdu

انتقام جو, انتقامی, کینہ باز, کینہ پرور

vindictive in Malayalam

പകവീട്ടുന്ന, പ്രതികാരശീലമുള്ള

vindictive in Kannada

ಸೇಡಿನ, ಛಲಸಾಧಿಸುವ, ಪ್ರತೀಕಾರದ, ಮುಯ್ಯಿ ತೀರಿಸುವ, ಪ್ರತಿವೈರ ಸಾಧಿಸುವ

Examples of vindictive in a sentence

  • A vindictive little kitten who is still angry about an obliterated car, more like.
  • As Lon talked, his prejudices rose to the surface and his comments became more and more vindictive.
  • He was a vicious male gossip, insatiably curious and vindictive without malice.

All 12 example sentences with vindictive

Synonyms of vindictive

5 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of vindictive

Forms of vindictive

comparativemore vindictive
superlativemost vindictive

Origin of vindictive

From Latin vindicta (“vengeance”) + -ive. Contrast Latin vindicātīvus.

Words formed from vindictive

Words that rhyme with vindictive

Questions about vindictive

What does vindictive mean?
Vindictive means having a tendency to seek revenge when wronged, vengeful.
What is vindictive in Tamil?
Vindictive in Tamil is பழிஉணர்ச்சியுடைய, பழிக்குப்பழி வாங்கும் தன்மையுடைய, பழிக்குப் பழிவாங்கு. See Vindictive meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is vindictive?
Vindictive is an adjective.
How do you pronounce vindictive?
Vindictive is pronounced /vɪnˈdɪk.tɪv/ (UK).

Words near vindictive in the dictionary

  1. vindicatory
  2. vindicatress
  3. vindicatresses
  4. vindicatrix
  5. vindices
  6. vindictive
  7. vindictive protectiveness
  8. vindictively
  9. vindictiveness
  10. vindictivenesses
  11. vindictivity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vindictive (page history and authors); vindictive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vindictive (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vindictive (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vindictive (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “vindictive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vindictive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.