retaliate

R1E1T1A1L1I1A1T1E1
/ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/

verb

To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.

“John insulted Peter to retaliate for Peter's acid remark earlier.”

Similar
revengeavengestrike back
OriginLatin retāliātus →
Less commonScrabble 9
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Word of the Day · Oct 3, 2022

Meanings

verbretaliate (third-person singular simple present retaliates, present participle retaliating, simple past and past participle retaliated)

present singular third person retaliates · participle present retaliating · participle past retaliated · past retaliated

  1. intransitiveTo do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.

    John insulted Peter to retaliate for Peter's acid remark earlier.

    1 more example

    Many companies have policies in place to prevent bosses from retaliating against allegations of harassment.

  2. transitiveTo repay or requite by an act of the same kind.

    1713-174, Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus Preface It is unlucky to be obliged to retaliate the injuries of authors, whose works are so soon forgotten that we are in danger of appearing the first aggressors.

    1 more example

    One ambassador sent word to the duke's son that his visit should be retaliated.

    1634, T[homas] H[erbert], A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

verbtake revenge for a perceived wrong

Similar
revengeavenge
Broader
punishpenalizepenalise

verbmake a counterattack and return like for like, especially evil for evil

Similar
strike back
Broader
strikehit
Also see
avengeget back atget evenget one's own backrequiterevengestrike backtar out

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinretāliātus
  2. Englishretaliate

From Latin retāliātus, past participle of retāliō (“to requite, retaliate”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian отплащам се, отмъщавам
  • отплащам се (otplaštam se)do something harmful to get revenge
  • отмъщавам (otmăštavam)do something harmful to get revenge
Catalan revenjar-se, tornar mal per mal
  • revenjar-sedo something harmful to get revenge
  • tornar mal per maldo something harmful to get revenge
Chinese Mandarin 報復 /报复
  • 報復 /报复 (bàofu)do something harmful to get revenge
Czech oplatit, oplácet
  • oplatitdo something harmful to get revenge
  • oplácetdo something harmful to get revenge
  • odplatitdo something harmful to get revenge
  • odplácetdo something harmful to get revenge
  • pomstítdo something harmful to get revenge
  • mstít sedo something harmful to get revenge
Dutch vergelden
  • vergeldendo something harmful to get revenge
Estonian kätte maksma
  • kätte maksmado something harmful to get revenge
Finnish kostaa, vastata samalla mitalla
  • kostaado something harmful to get revenge
  • vastata samalla mitallado something harmful to get revenge
French riposter, rendre la pareille à quelqu'un
  • riposterdo something harmful to get revenge
  • rendre la pareille à quelqu'undo something harmful to get revenge
  • user de représaillesdo something harmful to get revenge
  • se venger dedo something harmful to get revenge
German Vergeltung üben, sich rächen
  • Vergeltung übendo something harmful to get revenge
  • sich rächendo something harmful to get revenge
Hebrew עשה פעולת תגמול, נקם
  • עשה פעולת תגמול (asá peulát tagmúl)do something harmful to get revenge
  • נקם (nakám)do something harmful to get revenge
Hungarian megbosszul, elégtételt vesz
  • megbosszuldo something harmful to get revenge
  • elégtételt veszdo something harmful to get revenge
  • bosszút álldo something harmful to get revenge
  • megtoroldo something harmful to get revenge
Icelandic svara í sömu mynt, hefna sín
  • svara í sömu myntdo something harmful to get revenge
  • hefna síndo something harmful to get revenge
  • gjalda líku líktdo something harmful to get revenge
Italian reagire, rivalersi
  • reagiredo something harmful to get revenge
  • rivalersido something harmful to get revenge
  • vendicarsido something harmful to get revenge
Japanese 仕返し
  • 仕返し (shikaeshi suru)do something harmful to get revenge
Latin retalio
  • retaliodo something harmful to get revenge
Māori rautupu, rautipu
  • rautupudo something harmful to get revenge
  • rautipudo something harmful to get revenge
Polish mścić się
  • mścić siędo something harmful to get revenge
Portuguese retaliar
  • retaliardo something harmful to get revenge
Romanian riposta, a plăti cu aceeași monedă (cuiva)
  • ripostado something harmful to get revenge
  • a plăti cu aceeași monedă (cuiva)do something harmful to get revenge
  • a se răzbunado something harmful to get revenge
Russian мстить, отомсти́ть
  • мстить (mstitʹ)do something harmful to get revenge
  • отомсти́ть (otomstítʹ)do something harmful to get revenge
Spanish represaliar, tomar represalias
  • represaliardo something harmful to get revenge
  • tomar represaliasdo something harmful to get revenge
  • retaliardo something harmful to get revenge
  • retaleardo something harmful to get revenge
Swedish vedergälla
  • vedergällado something harmful to get revenge
Turkish misilleme yapmak
  • misilleme yapmakdo something harmful to get revenge
Ukrainian мсти́ти, помсти́ти
  • мсти́ти (mstýty)do something harmful to get revenge
  • помсти́ти (pomstýty)do something harmful to get revenge

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

aliterate
Cite this entry
APA

retaliate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retaliate

MLA

“retaliate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retaliate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retaliate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retaliate.

Source: retaliate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.