What is another word for retaliate?
Synonyms for retaliate
rɪˈtæl iˌeɪtre·tal·i·ate
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word retaliate.
English Synonyms and Antonyms
retaliate
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:
avenge, punish, revenge, vindicate, visitPreposition:
Avenge on or upon (rarely, avenge oneself of) a wrong-doer.
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
Princeton's WordNet
revenge, avenge, retaliateverb
take revenge for a perceived wrong
"He wants to avenge the murder of his brother"
Synonyms:
strike back, revenge, avengeretaliate, strike backverb
make a counterattack and return like for like, especially evil for evil
"The Empire strikes back"; "The Giants struck back and won the opener"; "The Israeli army retaliated for the Hamas bombing"
Synonyms:
avenge, strike back, revenge
Matched Categories
Dictionary of English Synonymes
retaliateverb
Synonyms:
return (by giving like for like, as an injury), repay, requite, revenge, take vengeance forretaliateverb
Synonyms:
take revenge, return like for like, give one as good as one sends, give quid pro quo, give a rowland for an Oliver, give tit for tat
Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#399 | visit | |
#8299 | revenge | |
#17439 | punish | |
#19016 | repay | |
#44630 | retort | |
#47557 | avenge | |
#55596 | retaliate | |
#57902 | reprisal | |
#80199 | vindicate | |
#193604 | requite |
How to use retaliate in a sentence?
It is completely illegal for employers to retaliate against employees who complain about workplace discrimination, but this is exactly what Robert De Niro did to Ms. Robinson, inventing claims to ruin her reputation and humiliate her because he knew she was going to expose his behavior.
We knew that these exorbitant fines were illegal and nothing more than a tool to scare our clients and retaliate against them for fighting back and standing up to this administration.
It's getting worse, honestly, if the cops think we're out to get them and that we want to retaliate, even if that's not 100% true, they're going to be hostile towards us, and we're going to be hostile towards them. It's a mess.
Investors have been getting a little less bullish over the last week or so, and if China does decide to retaliate with tariffs, that's when sentiment can take a dive.
The Chinese have to do the tit-for-tat, they have to retaliate.
Translations for retaliate
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- sich rächen, Vergeltung übenGerman
- tomar represaliasSpanish
- kostaa, vastata samalla mitallaFinnish
- riposterFrench
- megbosszul, megtorol, elégtételt vesz, bosszút állHungarian
- svara í sömu mynt, gjalda líku líkt, hefna sínIcelandic
- vendicarsiItalian
- 報復するJapanese
- rautupu, rautipuMāori
- zemścić sięPolish
- retaliarPortuguese
- отомстить, мститьRussian
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Translation
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"retaliate." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/retaliate>.
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