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avenge

verb

Simple meaning

Take revenge for a perceived wrong.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhvehnj

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈvɛndʒ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Take revenge for a perceived wrong

    “He wants to avenge the murder of his brother.”

  2. transitive

    To take vengeance (for); to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.

  3. reflexive

    To revenge oneself (on or upon someone).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient
Frequency
Rare
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Take revenge for a perceived wrong

Used this way, avenge is a common word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“He wants to avenge the murder of his brother.”
Emotional tone
Slightly negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Common
Connotation
Critical or judgemental
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use avenge

  • “He wants to avenge the murder of his brother.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

god avenge

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • avengedadjectiveInflected form

    For which vengeance has been taken.

  • avengernounInflected form

    Someone who takes vengeance.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: take revenge for a perceived wrong

revenge

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.