Synonyms for avenge
əˈvɛndʒavenge

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 2 votes

1. avengeverb

   To take vengeance (for); to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.

   Synonyms:
   spite, take revenge, get back at, retaliate

2. avengeverb

   To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.

   Synonyms:
   take revenge, retaliate, spite, get back at

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.3 / 3 votes

1. avenge

   Avenge and revenge, once close synonyms, are now far apart in meaning. To avenge is to visit some offense with punishment, in order to vindicate the righteous, or to uphold and illustrate the right by the suffering or destruction of the wicked. "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian," Acts vii, 24. To revenge is to inflict harm or suffering upon another through personal anger and resentment at something done to ourselves. Avenge is unselfish; revenge is selfish. Revenge, according to present usage, could not be said of God. To retaliate may be necessary for self-defense, without the idea of revenge. Compare REVENGE.

   Synonyms:
   punish, retaliate, revenge, vindicate, visit

   Preposition:
   Avenge on or upon (rarely, avenge oneself of) a wrong-doer.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 2 votes

1. avenge

   Synonyms:
   vindicate, right, visit, retaliate

   Antonyms:
   waive, don, forego, condone, remit, forgive, overlook

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.0 / 5 votes

1. revenge, avenge, retaliateverb

   take revenge for a perceived wrong

   "He wants to avenge the murder of his brother"

   Synonyms:
   strike back, revenge, retaliate

Matched Categories

1. • Punish

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. avengeverb

   Synonyms:
   take satisfaction for, award just punishment for

2. avengeverb

   Synonyms:
   revenge, vindicate (by punishment of an offender), inflict punishment in behalf of

3. avengeverb

   Synonyms:
   [So used by the translators of the Bible.] take revenge upon, treat revengefully

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "avenge":

   revenge

Suggested Resources

1. Avenge

   Revenge vs Avenge -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Revenge and Avenge.

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How to use avenge in a sentence?

1. Bruce Harrington:

   What's driving me is a sense of wanting to avenge the death of my brother and his wife.

2. Sean Mayers:

   ShipYourEnemiesGlitter is all about one-time revenge, bad Neighbour Notes is all about the ability to avenge yourself over and over again for all of the annoying things your neighbour does to you.

3. Edmund Burke:

   I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone.

4. Meedya Raqqa:

   I lost a lot of friends in this war and I resist to avenge their death, no matter the destruction in Kobani, it can be built again -- the important thing is to destroy this strange enemy that entered our land.

5. Karl Kraus:

   Progress celebrates victories over nature. Progress makes purses out of human skin. When people were traveling in mail coaches, the world got ahead better than it does now that salesmen fly through the air. What good is speed if the brain has oozed out on the way? How will the heirs of this age be taught the most basic motions that are necessary to activate the most complicated machines? Nature can rely on progress; it will avenge it for the outrage it has perpetrated on it.