vengeance
- 01 C1 Advanced
punishment or harm given to someone in return for a wrong they did to you.
the act of exacting punishment or retribution for a perceived injury or wrong. Uncountable in its abstract sense, though countable when referring to specific acts.
Simple“The hero in the movie swore to seek vengeance against the people who destroyed his home.”
In context“The protagonist's quest for vengeance consumed him entirely, leading to a cycle of violence that ultimately left both families in ruin.”
UsageOften used with the verbs 'seek', 'exact', or 'wreak'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
used to say that something happens with much more force or energy than before.
used in the idiomatic phrase 'with a vengeance' to indicate a high degree of intensity, force, or violence.
Simple“After a week of sunshine, the rain returned with a vengeance.”
In context“The flu returned to the city with a vengeance, affecting twice as many people as the previous winter's outbreak.”
UsageThis sense is almost exclusively found in the fixed prepositional phrase 'with a vengeance'.
Synonyms
“An unlikely hero seeks vengeance upon the corrupt figures who took everything from him many years ago.”
“A magisterial fury in fuchsia, she delivered a visceral account of the final scene from Salome, running the gamut from implacable vengeance to unhinged lust.”
From Anglo-Norman vengeaunce, from Old French vengeance, venjance, from vengier (“to avenge”). Analysable as venge + -ance.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.