vindicate
verb /ˈvɪndɪkeɪt/
/ˈvɪndɪkeɪt/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they vindicate | /ˈvɪndɪkeɪt/ /ˈvɪndɪkeɪt/ |
| he / she / it vindicates | /ˈvɪndɪkeɪts/ /ˈvɪndɪkeɪts/ |
| past simple vindicated | /ˈvɪndɪkeɪtɪd/ /ˈvɪndɪkeɪtɪd/ |
| past participle vindicated | /ˈvɪndɪkeɪtɪd/ /ˈvɪndɪkeɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form vindicating | /ˈvɪndɪkeɪtɪŋ/ /ˈvɪndɪkeɪtɪŋ/ |
- vindicate something to prove that something is true or that you were right to do something, especially when other people had a different opinion synonym justify
- I have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated.
- vindicate somebody to prove that somebody is not guilty when they have been accused of doing something wrong or illegal; to prove that somebody is right about something
- New evidence emerged, vindicating him completely.
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘deliver, rescue’): from Latin vindicat- ‘claimed, avenged’, from the verb vindicare, from vindex, vindic- ‘claimant, avenger’.