avenger
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
An avenger acts in response to a specific wrong against a particular person or group, often stepping in when the victim cannot act. A vigilante, by contrast, takes the law into their own hands against crime in general — a vigilante patrols streets or hunts criminals without legal authority, while an avenger focuses on a single injustice. Revenger is an older, now-rare word that overlaps almost entirely with avenger but carries a more personal, often bitter tone; modern speakers almost always prefer avenger. A retaliator strikes back in direct response to an attack or insult, but the motivation may be personal pride rather than a moral sense of righting a wrong — countries can be retaliators in trade disputes, but they would not be called avengers. Example: a brother who hunts down his sister's killer is an avenger; a citizen who starts patrolling the neighbourhood with a weapon is a vigilante.
Common collocations
Nouns
- masked avenger
- role of avenger
Phrases
- play the avenger
- act as an avenger
Prepositions
- avenger of
- avenger for
Etymology
Avenger comes from the Old French word avengier, which traces back to the Latin vindicāre — meaning to claim, to set free, or to punish. It entered English around the 14th century. The same Latin root gives us vindicate, vengeance, and revenge. Over time, the word narrowed from a general sense of claiming one's right to the specific meaning of punishing a wrong on behalf of another.