vindicate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
vindicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vindicated,
past participle, past
-
vindicating
present participle
-
to clear, as from an accusation, imputation, suspicion, or the like.
to vindicate someone's honor.
- Synonyms:
- exonerate
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to afford justification for; justify.
Subsequent events vindicated his policy.
-
to uphold or justify by argument or evidence.
to vindicate a claim.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate
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to assert, maintain, or defend (a right, cause, etc.) against opposition.
- Synonyms:
- substantiate
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to claim for oneself or another.
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Roman and Civil Law. to regain possession, under claim of title of property through legal procedure, or to assert one's right to possession.
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to get revenge for; avenge.
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Obsolete. to deliver from; liberate.
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Obsolete. to punish.
verb
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to clear from guilt, accusation, blame, etc, as by evidence or argument
-
to provide justification for
his promotion vindicated his unconventional attitude
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to uphold, maintain, or defend (a cause, etc)
to vindicate a claim
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Roman law to bring an action to regain possession of (property) under claim of legal title
-
rare to claim, as for oneself or another
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obsolete to take revenge on or for; punish
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obsolete to set free
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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vindicatornoun
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revindicateverb (used with object)
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self-vindicatedadjective
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self-vindicatingadjective
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unvindicatedadjective
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vindicatoryadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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vindicatesimple
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vindicatessimple
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have vindicatedperfect
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has vindicatedperfect
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am vindicatingprogressive
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are vindicatingprogressive
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is vindicatingprogressive
-
have been vindicatingperfect progressive
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has been vindicatingperfect progressive
Past
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vindicatedsimple
-
had vindicatedperfect
-
was vindicatingprogressive
-
were vindicatingprogressive
-
had been vindicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of vindicate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin vindicātus (past participle of vindicāre “to lay legal claim to (property); to free (someone) from servitude (by claiming him as free); to protect, avenge, punish),“ equivalent to vindic- (stem of vindex “claimant, protector, avenger”) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Vindicate means to justify, prove, or reinforce an idea — or to absolve from guilt. If your family thinks you hogged the last piece of pie on Thanksgiving, you'll be vindicated when your younger brother fesses up. Vindicate derives from the Latin vindicatus, which is the past tense of vindicare, meaning "lay claim to" or "avenge." When a physicist proves a theory that his colleagues derided, he vindicates it. When a lawyer clears her client's name in a trial, she vindicates him. Machiavelli argued that the results he got vindicated his tactics — in other words, the ends justified the means.
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
If that version is ever unearthed, it may perhaps vindicate the director.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
In written arguments, they said an additional three years "utterly fails to reflect the gravity of the offending or vindicate the dignity of each of the four victims".
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The worker just doesn’t get to vindicate their rights.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
This would vindicate the Fed’s July caution in defying the clamor from the media and financial back benches to raise rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Still, Picasso believed in his vision, and he believed that the future would vindicate him.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar added on X that the decision "vindicates Pakistan's consistent position that a binding international treaty cannot be unilaterally suspended or set aside".
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
To AI-safety experts, it vindicates what they have been warning about all along: that AI systems would cause real-world harms and evade attempts to control them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
These analysts will claim that the stock market’s huge rally to begin this week’s trading vindicates their beliefs.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026
"When you see that bond, and just that love she had for the lambs, it vindicates the decision."
From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026
Yet he nobly vindicates his claim as a reformer by the lash he applies with no measured hand to injustice, falseness, and hypocrisy, under whatever guise they may appear.
From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 2, September, 1851 by Various
The result also vindicated Van’s claim to the championship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Canadian Blake Parnham recalled that moment: "I was sobbing watching the game at home because I felt so vindicated, that Buffalo is different."
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Admirers cheered that the court had at last vindicated Andrew Johnson.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
They differed over whether that protection damned the Constitution or vindicated it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Have to admit it, I feel a little vindicated in how I’ve lived my life because people can be the worst.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
So watching the rest of the world finally catch up feels a little vindicating.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
A second theme for this Court is vindicating liberties in the Bill of Rights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
But the case was a close one with only five justices full-throatedly vindicating the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protection goals.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026