vindictive.

Intent on hurting or punishing someone in response to a perceived wrong.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• vindictive response
• vindictive behavior

On the page

The exclusion seemed vindictive rather than necessary.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Comparative more vindictive; superlative most vindictive when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, behavior. Commonness: moderately common.