Vindictive

Strongly motivated to retaliate against people perceived to have caused harm or insult.

Vindictive means: Strongly motivated to retaliate against people perceived to have caused harm or insult. Behavior in practice: Keeps score, waits for opportunities to punish, and prioritizes revenge over proportionate boundaries, repair, or moving on. Context for Vindictive: The tendency is best understood through repeated behavior across situations, because intention, intensity, timing, and consequences can change how it is experienced. Similar traits for Vindictive: resentful, spiteful, vengeful — related qualities that overlap with Vindictive while differing in motive, behavior, or intensity. Opposite traits for Vindictive: forgiving, magnanimous, merciful — useful contrasts showing how behavior or judgment can move in a different direction from Vindictive. When Vindictive becomes frequent or intense, it can weaken trust, judgment, cooperation, or well-being; one isolated episode, however, is not enough to define a person by this label. To assess Vindictive fairly, look for a consistent pattern across time and situations, consider the surrounding context, and avoid defining someone by a single incident.