vendetta

What It Means

Vendetta refers to an active and mutual hatred between two families or groups, also known as a blood feud. It can also refer to an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts, or to a commitment to carrying out such acts.

// The student insisted that the principal had a personal vendetta against her.

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vendetta in Context

"Rita publicly refused a vendetta at his funeral. She wouldn't ask her sons to avenge him, even though that wasn't just normal for the time, it was expected." — Rita Halász, Deep Breath: A Novel (translated by Kris Herbert), 2025

Despite the cacophony, the student tried to study.

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English speakers borrowed vendetta, spelling and all, from Italian in the 19th century; literally meaning "revenge," vendetta first referred specifically to Italian and especially Corsican family- or clan-based feuds. It later extended in meaning to cover the acts that tend to feature in such feuds, and later still expanded further to refer to a commitment to carrying out such acts. Vendetta ultimately traces to the Latin verb vindicta, meaning "revenge" or "vindication." That Latin word is also in the family tree of other English terms related to getting even, including avenge, revenge, vengeance, vindicate, and vindictive.

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