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
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nonpunishmentnoun
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overpunishmentnoun
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prepunishmentnoun
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repunishmentnoun
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self-punishmentnoun
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propunishmentadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
While a judge will determine her punishment, prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed that a sentence between three and four years in prison would be appropriate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Deserving as Mr. Hasan may be of his punishment, no one merits a lingering, possibly excruciating death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
For Maresca and Manchester City's players, shrouded in uncertainty and under threat of future Premier League punishment, Anfield – always a cauldron when they visit – will present the ultimate mental, physical and footballing examination.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
"The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
They were sentenced to public punishment by toad.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
It also left corporate leaders in Mexico concerned that their companies could be next, given that the order contained few details on the compliance failures that led to the punishments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
"The trial court imposed one of the harshest punishments for these charges, although fines and less severe penalties were also available."
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
And while there is no Premier League precedent, such concerns have not prevented such punishments being applied before in football.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
The parts maker apologized Monday and announced punishments for four executives including the dismissal of its human-resources director.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
They were racked with guilt for being alive, racked with pain in their heads and fear of ghosts, racked with nightmares and strange compulsions, punishments for being alive when the others were dead.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
