vindicate
VIN-dih-kaytverbMeaning to clear from blame or doubt; to prove right
Memory hook VIN = WIN: proved RIGHT at last. Everyone laughed at Sami for saying the old well still had water, until it gushed. He wins: the gushing well vindicates him.
When the old well gushed water, Sami felt vindicated.
In context For years critics mocked her theory, but the new fossils vindicated her: the bird’s ancestors really had walked on two legs.
Similar justify, exonerate, clear, prove right
Opposite discredit, incriminate, accuse
From Latin vindicare, “to claim, set free, defend.”