retaliation
/rɪˌtæliˈeɪʃn/ (bre, ipa) · /rɪˌtæliˈeɪʃn/ (ame, ipa)
retaliation — noun
1. something harmful or unpleasant that you do to a person, group, or country becau
something harmful or unpleasant that you do to a person, group, or country because they first did something harmful or unpleasant to you — for example, a company firing a worker who reported safety problems, or a country banning imports after a trade dispute.
The journalist faced threats of retaliation after publishing the government report.
faced threats of retaliation — common noun + of pattern
The company's decision to fire the whistleblower was seen as retaliation by the employees.
act of retaliation — noun phrase structure
Diplomats warned that any military retaliation would only deepen the conflict in the region.
Fearing retaliation from the cartel, the witness agreed to testify only under a new identity.
The two neighbours have been locked in a cycle of retaliation since the fence dispute.
- revenge
more personal and emotionally charged; implies a desire to make someone suffer
- reprisal
almost exclusively used for military or political retaliation between groups or nations
- payback
informal tone; suggests a reciprocal act that is seen as deserved
- vengeance
more intense and dramatic; implies moral outrage or a severe punishment
- forgiveness
choosing not to retaliate; the opposite emotional response
- reconciliation
the process of restoring peace instead of escalating harm
文法句型
in retaliation for [something]
retaliation against [someone/something]
act of retaliation
用法筆記
Frequently uncountable; typically used in formal, political, legal, and workplace contexts. Often appears in the prepositional phrase 'in retaliation for' to state the cause, or 'retaliation against' to state the target. The word commonly implies a back-and-forth dynamic rather than a single isolated act of revenge.