punish

[ puhn-ish ]

verb (used with object)

1. to subject to pain, loss, confinement, death, etc., as a penalty for some offense, transgression, or fault:

   The goal of the court is to punish the criminal for the crime he has committed.

   Synonyms: penalize, discipline, castigate, chastise

   Antonyms: reward

2. to inflict a penalty for (an offense, fault, etc.):

   Unconditional imprisonment is imposed to punish past transgressions.

   Synonyms: penalize

   Antonyms: reward

3. to mistreat, abuse, or hurt:

   Additional tariffs will punish working families with higher prices on household basics.

4. to handle severely or roughly, as in a fight.
5. to put to painful exertion, as a horse in racing.
6. Informal. to make a heavy inroad on; deplete:

   to punish a quart of whiskey.

verb (used without object)

1. to inflict punishment.

punish

/ ˈpʌnɪʃ /

verb

1. to force (someone) to undergo a penalty or sanction, such as imprisonment, fines, death, etc, for some crime or misdemeanour
2. tr to inflict punishment for (some crime, etc)
3. tr to use or treat harshly or roughly, esp as by overexertion

   to punish a horse

4. informal.
   tr to consume (some commodity) in large quantities

   to punish the bottle

Derived Forms

• ˈpunishing, adjective
• ˈpunisher, noun
• ˈpunishingly, adverb

Other Words From

• pun·ish·er noun
• o·ver·pun·ish verb
• pre·pun·ish verb (used with object)
• qua·si-pun·ished adjective
• re·pun·ish verb
• self-pun·ished adjective
• un·pun·ished adjective
• well-pun·ished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of punish¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English punischen, from Middle French puniss-, long stem of punir, from Latin pūnīre; akin to poena penalty, pain

Word History and Origins

Origin of punish¹

C14 punisse, from Old French punir, from Latin pūnīre to punish, from poena penalty

Synonym Study

Punish, correct, discipline refer to making evident public or private disapproval of violations of law, wrongdoing, or refusal to obey rules or regulations by imposing penalties. To punish is chiefly to inflict penalty or pain as a retribution for misdeeds, with little or no expectation of correction or improvement: to punish a thief. To correct is to reprove or inflict punishment for faults, specifically with the idea of bringing about improvement: to correct a rebellious child. To discipline is to give a kind of punishment that will educate or will establish useful habits: to discipline a careless driver.

Example Sentences

It remains unclear whether Trump and his supporters will still try to punish Mr Smith.

From BBC

In 2020, Rubio was sanctioned by the Chinese government after he pushed measures to punish the nation for its crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.

From BBC

In September, Leicester City won an appeal against a possible points deduction for an alleged breach of financial rules, when an independent panel found the Premier League did not have the jurisdiction to punish the club as it had been relegated to the Championship when their accounting period ended.

From BBC

“Things just kept piling up. The books in schools, then the war, and more people shifted. A lot voted for Trump to punish Harris, and a lot voted for him because they started to believe, ‘Maybe this guy is the real deal,’” she said.

From Slate

“Research has shown … policies that stigmatize and punish pregnant people for their substance use actually seem to make things worse rather than better, so we really need to focus on the harms of the policies that are adopted in response and not just what the effective thing that substance is.”

From Salon

Related Words

• abuse
• chastise
• correct
• crack down on
• discipline
• dismiss
• execute
• expel
• fine
• harm
• hurt
• incarcerate
• sentence