retaliate
verb
Simple meaning
To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rihtaleeaytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɹɪˈtælieɪt
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.
transitive
To repay or requite by an act of the same kind.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.
Used this way, retaliate is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Kind and considerate
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to do something harmful
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “retaliate” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
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.