retaliate
/ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/verb
retaliate is spelled R-E-T-A-L-I-A-T-E: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, retaliate means “To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in retaliate?
| Letters | 9: R-E-T-A-L-I-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is retaliate?
Retaliate appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce retaliate?
- /ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/
Retaliate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-retaliate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of retaliate
- retaliates present, singular, he/she/it
- retaliating participle, present
- retaliated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does retaliate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront.
John insulted Peter to retaliate for Peter's acid remark earlier.
- 2
To repay or requite by an act of the same kind.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Retaliate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense do something harmful to get revenge:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | riposter, rendre la pareille à quelqu'un, user de représailles, se venger de |
| German | Vergeltung üben, sich rächen |
| Portuguese | retaliar |
| Spanish | represaliar, tomar represalias, retaliar, retalear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does retaliate come from?
From Latin retāliātus, past participle of retāliō (“to requite, retaliate”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).