RETALIATING Synonyms: 27 Similar and Opposite Words

retaliating

verb

present participle of retaliate

as in avenging

to punish in kind the wrongdoer responsible for retaliated his neighbor's malicious destruction of his flower garden by cutting down the man's prize apple tree

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of retaliating Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky has defended the strikes as a crucial way of retaliating against Russia. — Julia Boehning, The Hill, 14 Oct. 2026 Meanwhile, the Houthis are reportedly retaliating by stepping up missile and drone attacks against Saudi targets including airports, military facilities, and an Aramco oil refinery. — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026 Employees, exhibitors, basic cable distributors and others could report concerns to the trustee or to the states, and the combined company would be barred from retaliating against them. — Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026 All parents should recognize that the five students from Lincoln-Way East High made some poor decisions and recognize that the Homewood-Flossmoor student body responded well by not retaliating. — Jerald McNair, Chicago Tribune, 11 Sep. 2026 At least two former pilots have said 21 Air did not give their aviators enough time to rest in between flights, violating takeoff-speed protocols and retaliating against anyone who brought safety issues to light. — Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 11 Sep. 2026 The lawsuit accuses Amazon of violating the PWFA by failing to accommodate pregnant workers and by retaliating against those who sought reasonable accommodations. — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026 Former Amazon employees filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday accusing the e-tail leviathan of discriminating against potentially thousands of pregnant workers by firing or retaliating against those who sought extra accommodations. — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 9 Sep. 2026 Anthropic sued, accusing the government of unlawfully retaliating against the company. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for retaliating

avenging

Verb

Singh and Oppenheim spent the next few days working on the script in a Mid-City office, then Singh spent five days alone rewriting the character of Hansen, infusing a mystical, avenging-angel undertone to his character.

— Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026
From then on the press made a point of painting you as the furious, avenging sister.

— Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of avenging

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retaliates

retaliating

retaliation

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“Retaliating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retaliating. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of retaliating

verb

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