vigilante

vig·i·lan·te

V v

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [vij-uh-lan-tee]
- /ˌvɪdʒ əˈlæn ti/
- /ˌvɪdʒ.ɪˈlæn.ti/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [vij-uh-lan-tee]
- /ˌvɪdʒ əˈlæn ti/

Definitions of vigilante word

noun vigilante a member of a vigilance committee. 1
noun vigilante any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime. 1
adjective vigilante done violently and summarily, without recourse to lawful procedures: vigilante justice. 1
noun vigilante person who takes law into own hands 1
adjective vigilante relating to unofficial justice 1
countable noun vigilante Vigilantes are people who organize themselves into an unofficial group to protect their community and to catch and punish criminals. 0

See all 10 definitions of vigilante

Information block about the term

Origin of vigilante

First appearance:

before 1825

One of the 37% newest English words

1825-35, Americanism; < Spanish: vigilant

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Vigilante

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Vigilante

vigilante popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 69% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

vigilante usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for vigilante

noun vigilante

babysitter — to take charge of a child while the parents are temporarily away.
cerberus — a dog, usually represented as having three heads, that guarded the entrance to Hades
guardian — a person who guards, protects, or preserves.

All 3 Synonyms of vigilante