Vengeance Meaning
/ˈvɛnˌd͡ʒəns/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounRevenge taken for an insult, injury, or other wrong.
nounDesire for revenge.
Sentence Examples
Heaven's vengeance is slow but sure.
She wanted desperately to get her vengeance.
You killed my father, and today I'll have my vengeance.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the murder, the grieving family sought ____ against the killer, wanting to make him suffer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The story tells a tale of ____, where the main character seeks to punish those who have wronged him today.
Word Origin & History
From Anglo-Norman vengeaunce, from Old French vengeance, venjance, from vengier (“to avenge”). Analysable as venge + -ance.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"All the gods have mocked at prayer. This sin must now be punished by the vengeance of men."
— 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 28:
"Penn: I don't want to invest in the conversation, not that I don't have it privately, about my feelings about what direct action should happen to a leader who does that, but if there is a God, there will be vengeance beyond all possible comprehension.
Hannity: "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord", quoted in a very famous book."
— 2022 April 5, Sean Hannity, Sean Penn, 22:33 from the start, in Sean Penn joins Sean Hannity to discuss Russian invasion of Ukraine (Hannity), Fox News, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2022:
"Thereupon full of anger, full of jealousy, full of vengeance, she forms […] a scheme of retribution, […]"
— 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
"If her husband was all forgiveness, asking the bands to play “Dixie,” she was full of vengeance […]"
— 2008, Jean Harvey Baker, Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography, →ISBN:
"Are they full of vengeance[?], because they say that people with vengeance in their hearts must dig two graves, one for their enemy and the other for themselves."
— 2011, James Calloway, Black America, Not in This America, →ISBN:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After the murder, the grieving family sought ____ against the killer, wanting to make him suffer.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The story tells a tale of ____, where the main character seeks to punish those who have wronged him today.