Meaning & use
vengeance
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Meanings
noununcountable
The act of punishing someone in return for a wrong they have done to you.
Grammar: Uncountable: you take vengeance or seek vengeance, not 'a vengeance' or 'vengeances'.
Patterns
- take vengeance on someone
- seek vengeance for something
- in vengeance
After his brother was killed, he swore to take vengeance on the gang.
She was not interested in vengeance; she just wanted to be left alone.
The family sought vengeance for the attack, but the courts offered justice instead.
nounfixed phrase
Used in the phrase 'with a vengeance' to mean with great force, energy, or intensity.
Grammar: Always appears as 'with a vengeance'; it describes how something happens, not a person's motive.
Patterns
- with a vengeance
The rain came back with a vengeance, flooding the streets within an hour.
After a slow start, the team played with a vengeance and won easily.
Common combinations
- take vengeance
- He wanted to take vengeance on those who had wronged him.
- seek vengeance
- She did not seek vengeance; she wanted the truth.
- with a vengeance
- The storm returned with a vengeance that night.
- vengeance is mine
- 'Vengeance is mine,' the old proverb says, meaning punishment belongs to God, not to us.
Synonyms and how they differ
- revenge
- Revenge is the more everyday word and can be countable or uncountable; vengeance sounds more dramatic and literary.
- retribution
- Retribution often suggests punishment that is deserved or carried out by an authority, not personal payback.
- reprisal
- A reprisal is usually a retaliatory act in a conflict between groups or countries, not a personal act.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: vengeance or revenge?
vengeance vs revenge
Revenge is much more common in speech and can be countable ('a revenge'); vengeance is uncountable and sounds stronger and more literary.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
'Vengeance' is uncountable, so it takes no article and no plural: 'take vengeance on someone' is correct. The other options wrongly treat it as countable.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vengeance”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.