verb (used with object),vin·di·cat·ed,vin·di·cat·ing.
to clear, as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like: to vindicate someone's honor.
to afford justification for; justify: Subsequent events vindicated his policy.
to uphold or justify by argument or evidence: to vindicate a claim.
to assert, maintain, or defend (a right, cause, etc.) against opposition.
to claim for oneself or another.
Roman and Civil Law. to regain possession, under claim of title of property through legal procedure, or to assert one's right to possession.
to get revenge for; avenge.
Obsolete. to deliver from; liberate.
Obsolete. to punish.
Origin of vindicate
1525–35; <Latin vindicātus (past participle of vindicāre to lay legal claim to (property), to free (someone) from servitude (by claiming him as free), to protect, avenge, punish), equivalent to vindic- (stem of vindex claimant, protector, avenger) + -ātus-ate1
SYNONYMS FOR vindicate
1 exonerate.
3, 4 support.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR vindicate ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM vindicate
vin·di·ca·tor,nounre·vin·di·cate,verb (used with object),re·vin·di·cat·ed,re·vin·di·cat·ing.self-vin·di·cat·ed,adjectiveself-vin·di·cat·ing,adjective
un·vin·di·cat·ed,adjective
Words nearby vindicate
vin de table, Vindhya Hills, Vindhya Pradesh, Vindhya Range, vindicable, vindicate, vindication, vindicatory, vindictive, vin du pays, vine
Barrios said Monday that his opponent, San Diego Community College Trustee Sean Elo-Rivera, was behind the allegations of financial impropriety, but erroneously claimed that he had already been vindicated by four different organizations.
Gómez ‘Pausing’ Barrios Support Amid Criminal Investigation|Andrew Keatts|August 26, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Late Monday, Barrios issued a press release defending himself, in which he made four specific claims about the various entities that had already vindicated him of the charges.
Morning Report: Nursing Home Oversight Falters|Voice of San Diego|August 26, 2020|Voice of San Diego
After the Union-Tribune reported he was under criminal investigation, Kelvin Barrios, a candidate in the District 9 City Council race, issued a press release announcing four ways in which he had been vindicated.
Barrios Makes Dubious Claims on Investigations Into His Spending|Jesse Marx|August 25, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Let’s go after the bad guys, even those who committed these violations two or three years ago, beyond the previous statute of limitations, and make sure that the consumer interest is vindicated here.
Can You Hear Me Now? (Ep. 406)|Stephen J. Dubner|February 20, 2020|Freakonomics
Maybe at some level, we may be drawn to those stories perhaps because they may seem to vindicate our own failures to intervene in some cases.