vindicate
/ˈvɪndɪkeɪt
/verb [with object]
1Clear (someone) of blame or suspicion: hospital staff were vindicated by the inquest verdict...
- The purpose of a libel action is to enable the Plaintiff to clear his name of the libel, to vindicate his character.
- But rather than vindicating the staff I think this is more damning.
- Representing himself, his argument will be that he has a right to vindicate his person and what he describes as his ‘good name’.
Synonyms
acquit, clear, absolve, free from blame, declare innocent, exonerate, exculpate, discharge, liberate, free, deliver, redeem
informal let off, let off the hook
1.1Show or prove to be right, reasonable, or justified: more sober views were vindicated by events...
- The events of yesterday vindicated those who supported the idea of a road to bypass the Bingley bottleneck.
- Our concerns were finally vindicated when an anonymous whistle-blower called in the National Audit Office.
- I really think Wanderers have done themselves proud this season and results vindicate Sam's attitude.
Synonyms
justify, warrant, substantiate, establish, demonstrate, ratify, authenticate, verify, confirm, corroborate, prove, defend, offer grounds for, support, back, evidence, bear out, bear witness to, endorse, give credence to, lend weight to
rare extenuate
Derivatives
vindicable
- By ‘judicially vindicable rights,’ I assume Matt means individual rights, for otherwise states could claim they had rights under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.
- So far the doctrine of equal rights, is vindicable.
- The right to be sued only in a particular forum, as compared to the right to avoid suit altogether, although not perfectly secured by an appeal after final judgment, is sufficiently vindicable at that stage and is not essentially destroyed if vindication is postponed until trial is completed.
vindicator
- She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.
- She turned her head to the side, watching the vindicator from the corner of her right eye.
- The Book of Isaiah proclaims God as the bearer of justice, the vindicator.
vindicatory
- And this model could comprise a useful vindicatory framework for that.
- There are vindicatory stories available to scientists, which they draw on in times of need.
- Now that the Privy Council has confirmed the right of vindicatory damages, there will likely be many more.
Origin
Mid 16th century (in the sense 'deliver, rescue'): from Latin vindicat- 'claimed, avenged', from the verb vindicare, from vindex, vindic- 'claimant, avenger'.
revenge from Late Middle English:
‘Revenge’, said the 17th-century courtier and scholar Francis Bacon, ‘is a kind of wild justice.’ The idea that wrongs can be most successfully avenged by someone who has taken the time to plan their response is formulated in the proverb first recorded in the late 19th century, revenge is a dish best eaten cold. The word is from Old French revencher, which was from Latin vindicare ‘to claim, avenge’—the root of vindicate (early 17th century) and avenge (Late Middle English).
Rhymes
- get the message
- get the nod
- get the picture
- get the start of
- get through
- getting on for
- get to
- get together
- get to sleep
- get to the bottom of
- get-tough
- Getty, Jean Paul
- Gettysburg Address
- Gettysburg, Battle of
- get under someone's skin
- get untracked
- get up
- get-up-and-go
- get up (or pick up) steam
- get up someone's nose
- get up to
- get weaving
- get-well card
- get-well-soon card
- get wind of