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pronounce VINDICATE: Say it "VIN dih kate." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: Today we're checking out the word vindicate, meaning "to justify, or to free from blame or doubt." It comes from the Latin vim dicare, meaning "to show or declare authority." See if you can recall this close synonym of vindicate: To ex____ate people is to say that they are officially not guilty of something. And, see if you can recall this close cousin of vindicate, which also traces back to the Latin vim dicare: a v_d_tt_ is a bitter, longstanding hatred. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)   definition: "Vindicate" has Latin bits that mean "to declare authority." If something vindicates you, it frees you from guilt, blame, or suspicion. In other words, to vindicate someone is to prove that they were correct or that they were innocent, after they were considered wrong or guilty. Things, too, can be vindicated. If you vindicate something, you prove that it was correct, logical, or reasonable, after it was considered wrong, illogical, or unreasonable. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Verb, the transitive kind: "This vindicates you." Other forms:  The common ones are "vindicated," "vindicating," and "vindication." Things and people that do the vindicating are "vindicators." Something can be "vindicable," and if so, it has "vindicability." There's also an adjective, "vindicatory," and an adverb, "vindicatorily." What about "vindictive"? You might notice that "vindicate" looks like it should be the verb form of "vindictive." (To be vindictive is to be vengeful: to want to punish people or get revenge on them.) But their meanings are quite different, so we won't explore "vindictive" right now. Blame the similarity on the Latin vim dicare, "to declare authority." Proving you were right, or punishing someone who hurt you--those are two very different ways to declare authority! how to use it: "Vindicate" is a common word, with a serious, formal tone. We talk about events and evidence that vindicate people. And, we talk about things that vindicate claims, beliefs, theories, instincts and gut feelings, etc. Either way, the vindication usually happens a good while after someone (or something) has been thought to be guilty or wrong. So, when vindicated, people get to say "See? I was right all along! I told you so!" Often we use "vindicate" in the passive: "I felt vindicated;" "He was vindicated by their response." And as you'll see in the third example below, you can feel vindicated in doing something, in believing something, in having suspected something, etc. examples: "In 1883, modern biblical scholarship was in its first flowering... And alongside the scholarly ferment, there was a mad scramble to discover artifacts that might vindicate various claims about the Bible."    — Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 10 March 2021 "Abel was big, too, around six-foot-three, long and lean. He hadn't hit my mom yet. But I knew he was dangerous. I'd seen it... 'There's just something not right about him. I don't trust him. I don’t think he’s a good person.' ... My mom had been shot by a man I despised. I felt vindicated; I'd been right about Abel all along."    — Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, 2016 "Organic and biodynamic growers were criticised in private for their refusal to apply the recommended synthetic sprays. Neighbours feared disease contamination. Oidium and mildew rot were considered real risks, and there were also concerns about the number of wasps. But, an unusually warm and sunny September helped to turn the situation around and several organic growers said they felt vindicated in sticking to their principles."    — Staff, Decanter, 13 October 2014 has this page helped you understand "vindicate"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "vindicate" without saying "warrant" or "prove right." try it out: On the website TV Tropes, the writers identify a trope they call "Vindicated by History." This trope occurs, they explain, when "works with unexceptional debuts will be rediscovered and reanalyzed, and in some cases may even become critical darlings or timeless classics in the eyes of the public after about 20 years, usually when their authors/producers are no longer around to bask in their belated fame." Could you give an example? What's some particular creative work whose value has been vindicated by history? Who did the vindicating, and when? It might be poem, a play, a song or album, a movie, a TV show, a video game, a work of visual art, or even a building or an automobile.  If you're not sure, you can browse the examples on the site. There are hundreds, organized by the type of media. If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is "Clues in Cobbled Haikus." Check out the haiku, cobbled together from the work of a famous writer, and see if you can identify the term it's suggesting.  Try this one today: Cobbled from the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the haiku below suggests which of the following terms: numinous, officious, or tenebrous?    his evil purpose    in the forest, gloomy, dark,    a dream had warned her To see the answer, scroll all the way down. review this word: 1. A near opposite of VINDICATING is A. RETURNING. B. MAKING FUN. C. INCRIMINATING. 2. In their song "Vindicated," Dashboard Confessional sings, "_____." A. I am right, I swear I'm right. Swear I knew it all along B. I'll be true. I'll be useful. I'll be cavalier. I'll be yours, my dear C. And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration. One good stretch before our hibernation Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. A Answer to the game question: The cobbled haiku suggests the term tenebrous. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.