How to Use vindictive in a Sentence

vindictive

adjective
Definition of vindictivenext
Synonyms for vindictivenext
  • Not a word in print or on the air has shown this family to be a vindictive people.
    — Mercury News Readers, The Mercury News, 12 June 2017
  • For a moment, Min felt a vindictive joy that the girls already knew to keep the truth about him from the world.
    — Junot Díaz, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2018
  • The vindictive fever churning inside the Russian leader came to a head on the eve of the war in Ukraine.
    — Roger Cohen Nanna Heitmann, New York Times, 6 Aug. 2023
  • That was vindictive, Smith then argued, in a bid to get all the charges dismissed.
    — Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, 3 May 2020
  • Don't send your photo to someone who may be vindictive or may want to seek revenge on you in the future.
    — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 22 Aug. 2019
  • Is this the sort of vindictive trouble that Enrico feared?
    — Tom Nolan, WSJ, 18 Mar. 2022
  • Vardy was pregnant at the time of the post and has received unimaginably vindictive threats to both her and her baby’s life.
    — Raven Smith, Vogue, 12 May 2022
  • Mr Ramaphosa should not be vindictive and, mindful of the precedent, he should be seen to be fair.
    — The Economist, 22 Feb. 2018
  • There is a side of de Gaulle that is merely hateful: vindictive and vain and deeply selfish.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2021
  • Your mother must be proud to have raised such a small, petty, vindictive person.
    — Michael Harriot, The Root, 11 May 2018
  • Even so, the player himself doesn't believe fans were setting out to be vindictive.
    — Amanda Davies, CNN, 5 July 2017
  • There are many who have said it, in vindictive responses and Twitter threads.
    — Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2022
  • The relentlessly vindictive Left should allow this man to do his job.
    — Deroy Murdock, National Review, 17 Apr. 2020
  • Instead of the strong reformer, the world now saw a vindictive ruler whose actions exuded paranoia.
    — Bloomberg.com, 18 May 2018
  • Yet Herman can’t help but feel for his clients, even at their most vindictive moments.
    — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Even by the dismal standards of the trade, Bangladesh’s politicians are a brutal, vindictive bunch.
    — The Economist, 5 Sep. 2019
  • As soon as one vindictive account was shuttered, another sprung up in its place.
    — Brian Barrett, WIRED, 12 Mar. 2015
  • Plus, deliberately poking the bear and not leaving on good terms can cause the firm left behind to be vindictive.
    — Mindy Diamond, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023
  • The two vindictive puppet masters finally are going to go face-to-face.
    — Zane Moses, baltimoresun.com, 19 May 2017
  • The gods took no interest in humans and were neither vindictive nor demanding.
    — The Economist, 26 Sep. 2019
  • Often, the sources might face a threat to their career or even their safety, whether from a vindictive boss or a hostile government.
    — New York Times, 10 May 2022
  • How else to explain what looks more like a clownish and vindictive political stunt than a corruption probe?
    — Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2022
  • Mac and Charlie’s game pieces being smashed to ruins by the game’s crazed, vindictive winners.
    — Rachel Simon, Vulture, 30 Nov. 2021
  • But an attorney for Unsworth portrayed Musk as vain and vindictive.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 3 Dec. 2019
  • Marcus was fired by a vindictive board even though the Handy Dan division was not in bankruptcy.
    — Harvey MacKay, Star Tribune, 2 Aug. 2020
  • If a woman reports her ex for stealing from her, who’s to say she’s not just brokenhearted and vindictive?
    — Rachel Monroe, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Newman said the refusal to let Lindecrantz testify on her own terms shows that the court is being vindictive.
    — Tracy Connor, NBC News, 9 Mar. 2018
  • Each was a passionate, sometimes vindictive mix of beliefs that changed with circumstances.
    — Martin Peretz, WSJ, 8 May 2018
  • This sends Tammy into an emotional spiral and sends Aaron on a vindictive one.
    — Ali Barthwell, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2021
  • Yet another sign that either this is not the Rangers week, or regression is a vindictive entity.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 26 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vindictive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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