vengeance

noun

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ven·geance | \ ˈven-jən(t)s

Definition of vengeance

: punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense : retribution

with a vengeance

1 : with great force or vehemence undertook reform with a vengeance

2 : to an extreme or excessive degree the tourists are back—with a vengeance

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Examples of vengeance in a Sentence

He thought briefly of the long-dead woman bound to this stone in 1654 and burnt alive as a witch. And for what? An over-sharp tongue, delusions, mental eccentricity, to satisfy a private vengeance, the need for a scapegoat in times of sickness or the failure of a harvest, or perhaps as a sacrifice to propitiate a malignant unnamed god? — P. D. James, The Private Patient, 2008 Unlike the type of cannibalism much of the world had come to know—among desperate explorers, marooned sailors, and victims of famine—the Cinta Larga's consumption of human flesh was born not out of necessity but out of vengeance and an adherence to tribal traditions and ceremony. — Candice Millard, The River of Doubt, 2005 As it turns out, police crackdowns in the 1990's did not so much destroy Los Angeles street gangs as temporarily displace them to Central America. Soon they returned with a vengeance; gang-related homicide rose 50 percent between 1999 and 2002. — Richard Brookhiser, New York Times Book Review, 9 Jan. 2005 He is trying to do in his corner of Texas what death-penalty opponents say is impossible: enforce capital punishment flawlessly, ensuring that the innocent never spend a day on death row and the guilty are sent there only after trials free of bias and vengeance. — John Cloud, Time, 14 July 2003 A holy war may be launched to root out terrorism, but its form must be a punitive crusade, an angry god's vengeance exacted upon sinners, since no proper war can exist when there is no recognition of the other's list of grievances, no awareness of the relentless dynamic binding the powerful and powerless. — John Edgar Wideman, Harper's, March 2002 The fire was set as an act of vengeance. Angry protesters wanted to inflict vengeance on the killer.

Recent Examples on the Web Theater is coming back to the Kennedy Center — with a vengeance. — Washington Post, "Covid-19 live updates World struggles to maintain vaccination drives amid mounting reports of side effects," 14 Apr. 2021 Hawking promoted the theory of everything with a vengeance. — James Gleick, The New York Review of Books, "Eclipsed by Fame," 13 Apr. 2021 The Ghostface Killer returns with a vengeance when self-help author Sidney Prescott arrives in Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. — Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, "Movies on TV this week ‘Pulp Fiction’ on BBC America and IFC," 9 Apr. 2021 After missing much of her junior year due to injury, Rebman came back with a vengeance to lead the area in scoring at 25.0 points per game. — Joe Magill, cleveland, "Aurora’s Shyanne Sellers leads the way in cleveland.com’s girls basketball Fab 50 for 2020-21," 5 Apr. 2021 Like it or not, 2000s fashion is back with a vengeance. — Christian Allaire, Vogue, "Are You Ready for the Return of Trucker Hats?," 29 Mar. 2021 After taking a season off to play travel soccer, senior Mario Simoes to returned to Fort Lauderdale High School this season with vengeance. — Gary Curreri, sun-sentinel.com, "Broward 7A-6A boys soccer player of the year: Mario Simoes, Fort Lauderdale senior," 27 Mar. 2021 Burlesque often thrives on the fringes of society, cropping up with a vengeance during times of prohibition and oppression, but during the pandemic, even underground art forms have been at a loss. — New York Times, "What Is Life Without Burlesque?," 25 Mar. 2021 Love locked down: Weddings are coming back with a vengeance this year, according to the CEO of David's Bridal. — Allison Morrow, CNN, "Work-life balance on Wall Street looks like free Pelotons and Zoom-free Fridays," 23 Mar. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vengeance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.