vindication
n.the act of proving that someone is right or that a belief is true. It is like getting a 'yes' to a question you thought was wrong.
n.the action of proving that a belief or theory is correct, or that someone is innocent of a crime. Often implies a formal or public confirmation of a previous claim.
“The new evidence was a complete vindication of his theory.”
“After years of being criticized for his management style, the successful merger provided a much-needed vindication.”
“The publication of the internal documents served as a total vindication of the whistleblower's claims, leading to a complete overhaul of the company's safety protocols.”
“The researchers said the findings were a vindication of the low-emission zone policy, which had been criticised as a burden on motorists.”
“So this report is tragic vindication for these concerns, now showing that patients have come to harm as a result of this rushed-out and inconsistently applied process.”
From vindicate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.