blood feud
Hereditary family conflict
A blood feud is a prolonged conflict between families or clans, typically driven by a cycle of retaliatory killings.
When one family member is killed, the victim's relatives seek vengeance, prompting counter-revenge from the other side.
Such feuds can span generations: The blood feud between the two families had claimed a dozen lives over fifty years.
The Hatfields and McCoys represent the archetypal American blood feud.
Prolonged retaliatory conflict
- rivalryOngoing contest between opponents
- enmityBitter, lasting ill will
- hostilityAntagonistic disposition toward others
- animosityActive, bitter hostility
grudge · strife · discord · schism · friction · antagonism · rancor · resentment
Punishment for wrongdoing
- revengePunishing a wrongdoer
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- reprisalPunitive action in return
- avengerRetribution dealer
wrath · vow · oath · honor · justice · settling scores · eye for an eye · payback
Related group sharing ancestry
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- dynastySuccessive family rulers
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
- descendantsThose who come after
kinship · heritage · family tree · genealogy · patriarchal · matriarchal · forebears · birthright
vendetta
Prolonged retaliatory conflict
- rivalryOngoing contest between opponents
- enmityBitter, lasting ill will
- hostilityAntagonistic disposition toward others
animosity · grudge · strife · discord · schism · friction · antagonism · rancor · resentment · contention
retribution
Punishment for wrongdoing
- revengePunishing a wrongdoer
- retaliationPunitive response to injury
- reprisalPunitive action in return
avenger · wrath · vow · oath · honor · justice · settling scores · eye for an eye · payback · obligation
clan
Related group sharing ancestry
descendants · kinship · heritage · family tree · genealogy · patriarchal · matriarchal · forebears · birthright · progeny
- VikingsViking, longships, longship, raiding, Norse settlers
- conflictsargument, fight, war, battle, dispute
- Feudsgrudge, vendetta, rivalry, bitter rivalry, animosity
- story tropesquest, hero's journey, plot twist, chosen one, red herring
- medieval justicetrial by combat, trial by ordeal, trial by fire, trial by jury, ordeal
- retaliationrevenge, retaliation, payback, reprisal, vengeance
blood feudpeace
Freedom from disturbance
alliance · harmony · friendship · amity · reconciliation
blood feudreconciliation
Restoration of friendly relations
forgiveness · truce · peace treaty · amnesty · pardon
blood feudblood bond
Connection through shared lineage
blood brotherhood · kinship · clan loyalty · covenant · pact
blood, bleed, feud, bloody, bloodline, blooded, feuding, bloodbath, bloodshot