vindicatory

English

Etymology

From vindicate +‎ -ory.

Adjective

vindicatory (comparative more vindicatory, superlative most vindicatory)

1. Promoting or producing vindication.
   • 1995, Douglas Vickers, The Tyranny of the Market, →ISBN, page 77:

     The principal vindicatory feature of the market system . . . rests in the fact that it permits and facilitates an intermarket and intersectoral flow of economic values.

2. Promoting or producing retribution or punishment.
   • 1800, The Annual Register, volume 39, London: J. Dodsley, published 1797, page 486:

     To prevent the strong from oppressing the weak; to protect the acquisitions of industry . . . are duties which require that delegated authority should be exerted by public force and the vindicatory dispensations of pains and penalties.

Synonyms

• (promoting or producing vindication): defensive, justificatory
• (promoting or producing retribution or punishment): punitive, retributive

Derived terms

• vindicatorily

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.