reprisal
n.n. an act of revenge or punishment taken against someone who did something bad to you. It is a formal word for getting back at someone in a serious way.
n. an act of revenge or retaliation against a perceived wrong or injury. Often used in legal or formal contexts to describe a response to a prior action.
The company faced a legal reprisal after the scandal.
The local community organized a peaceful protest as a form of reprisal against the factory's pollution.
Historians often debate whether the military's aggressive reprisal was a necessary defense or a disproportionate escalation of the conflict.
From Anglo-Norman reprisaille (French représaille), from Old Italian ripresaglia (Italian rappresaglia), from ripreso, past participle of riprendere (“to take back”), from Latin reprendere, earlier reprehendere (see reprehend).