punish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
-
to inflict a penalty for (an offense, fault, etc.).
Unconditional imprisonment is imposed to punish past transgressions.
- Synonyms:
- penalize
- Antonyms:
- reward
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to mistreat, abuse, or hurt.
Additional tariffs will punish working families with higher prices on household basics.
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to handle severely or roughly, as in a fight.
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to put to painful exertion, as a horse in racing.
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Informal. to make a heavy inroad on; deplete.
to punish a quart of whiskey.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to force (someone) to undergo a penalty or sanction, such as imprisonment, fines, death, etc, for some crime or misdemeanour
-
(tr) to inflict punishment for (some crime, etc)
-
(tr) to use or treat harshly or roughly, esp as by overexertion
to punish a horse
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informal (tr) to consume (some commodity) in large quantities
to punish the bottle
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- overpunish verb
- prepunish verb (used with object)
- punisher noun
- punishing adjective
- punishingly adverb
- quasi-punished adjective
- repunish verb
- self-punished adjective
- unpunished adjective
- well-punished adjective
Etymology
Origin of punish
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English punischen, from Middle French puniss-, long stem of punir, from Latin pūnīre; akin to poena penalty, pain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Historically - both in the 1970s and over the past few years - incumbent governments across the world have been punished by voters in such moments.
From BBC
Gattuso admitted the team's shortcomings: "When you have chances and don't take them, football punishes you."
From BBC
The worst monthly showing for the S&P 500 index in a year — and the worst first-quarter performance since 2022, when a punishing bear market was just getting underway.
From MarketWatch
His assessment came after he lamented the fact that social media algorithms punish “decency” and reward “flamboyant narcissism and controversy.”
From Los Angeles Times
A furious heat rises in me, from my gut to the tips of my fingers, and my body clenches at his audacity, at the lies, at the lengths he’s willing to go to punish me.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
