to get back at
77
5.6
- phrasal verb
- /ɡɛt bæk æt/
- Informal
:
vengarse de
- I just wanted to get back at Roger.
so you don't have to worry about revenge or getting back at somebody,
- so you don't have to worry about revenge or getting back at somebody,
- Instead he did symbolically get back at her through these other murders.
- I don't appreciated being used as a gossip, you know, tool for you to get back at your boyfriend.
- Instead of saying screw you world, I'm going to get back at you or screw you world, you're not going to touch me.
- Kind of like my mind started gearing up to, I'm going to get back at him.
- And maybe by being the bad seed, they were getting back at their parents or whatever it was that maybe they didn't feel at home in that world.
- And maybe by being the bad seed, they were getting back at their parents or whatever it was, and maybe they didn't feel at home in that world.
Examples
-
She wanted to get back at you for what you did to her.
-
Bub had found a way to get back at him for what Anne had done.
Fiction book (1994) -
Was that just to get back at Trump or was there something else behind it?
-
You wanna get back at her?
-
You think this is a way to get back at me for what I did to you.
Fiction book (2000) -
All he really wanted was to get back at everybody and everything.
Fiction book (1999) -
I'll have to find a way to get back at him.
Fiction book (2002) -
She's doing this to get back at me.
-
You're just trying to get back at me for what I did this morning.
-
She's plotting to get back at him for spreading those rumors.
Synonyms
188
3.3
Resist an attack or criticism by responding
105
7.3
To hurt someone because they hurt you
95
4.9
Punish someone who hurt you or someone you care about
46
5.4
To do something to hurt someone because they hurt you
40
8.6
Punish or hurt someone to get revenge
36
8.6
To take revenge on someone who harmed you
34
4.9
To fight back after someone attacks or hurts you
29
8.2
To get revenge on someone for something they did
24
4.2
Do something to hurt someone because they hurt you
9
3.2
Do something to someone to hurt them for what they did
9
4.2
To harm someone because they hurt you or someone you care about
1
5.1
Take revenge on someone for a wrong
Treat someone in the same bad way they treated you
Punish someone for something they did to you
Antonyms
How Vengeful
9
4.2
105
7.3
- Informal
77
5.6
- Informal
42
4.8
370
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
get + back + at
There is a clear lexical cue: 'back' suggests doing something in return (payback), so a learner who knows 'get', 'back' and 'at' can often infer that this involves returning an action to someone. However, the precise sense 'to punish or seek revenge' depends on an idiomatic verb–particle–preposition pattern and is not fully predictable from the literal meanings, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Get back at: The verb get back at comes from the simple image of going back to someone to punish them — you get back to their place and act at them. So, it means 'to take revenge' or 'to do something to punish someone'.