noun
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a penalty or sanction given for any crime or offence
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the act of punishing or state of being punished
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informal rough treatment
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psychol any aversive stimulus administered to an organism as part of training
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of punishment
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English punysshement, from Anglo-French punisement, Old French punissement; equivalent to punish + -ment
Explanation
Punishment is the penalty you have to pay when you're caught doing something bad. A teenager's punishment for missing her curfew might be helping her dad clean the garage. When someone is officially penalized for a mistake or a crime, that's punishment. Stealing a car could result in a punishment involving jail, while pinching your little sister might mean a punishment as mild as sitting in a chair and thinking about ways to be nicer next time. The Latin root of punishment and its related verb, punish, is punire, "punish, correct, take vengeance for, or cause pain for some offense."
Vocabulary lists containing punishment
Psychology
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"Nadia the Willful"
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The House of Hades
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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.
But instead of ending capital punishment in the United States, the Furman decision set off a scramble in which states reenacted their death penalty laws in the hope of curing the problem Justice Douglas identified.
From Slate • Jun. 8, 2026
His fate isn’t a reward; it’s a punishment.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Scotland became the first part of the UK to outlaw physical punishment of under-16s with a ban on parents smacking their children becoming law in 2020.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
Recessions such as the Great Depression aren’t punishment for the excess of the Roaring ’20s, but interruptions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
He promised to abolish the Treaty of Versailles, calling it "unfair punishment."
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
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.
