Retaliatory

//ɹɪˈtælɪət(ə)ɹɪ// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Relating to or part of a retaliation.

    "The hostile forces were at an impasse; neither could attack with enough force and still defend against the retaliatory counterattack."

Adjective
  1. 1
    of or relating to or having the nature of retribution wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
punitiveretaliativeamendatoryavengingbalancingchangeable

Example

More examples

"Retaliatory tariffs by China have decreased demand and overall prices for crops like soybeans, ultimately affecting a farmer’s bottom line, forcing many to hold off purchasing large, expensive equipment."

Etymology

From retaliate + -ory.

More for "retaliatory"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.