punitive
serving for, concerned with, or inflicting punishment: punitive laws; punitive action.
Origin of punitive
1- Also pu·ni·to·ry [pyoo-ni-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]. /ˈpyu nɪˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/.
Other words from punitive
- pu·ni·tive·ly, adverb
- pu·ni·tive·ness, noun
- non·pu·ni·tive, adjective
- non·pu·ni·to·ry, adjective
- self-pu·ni·tive, adjective
- sem·i·pu·ni·tive, adjective
- sem·i·pu·ni·to·ry, adjective
- un·pu·ni·tive, adjective
Words that may be confused with punitive
- penal, penological, punitive
Words Nearby punitive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use punitive in a sentence
While it’s probable that fines and other punitive measures are in store for some or all of these companies, it’s much less likely that any of them will be carved up.
Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook set to preview antitrust defenses before Congress | Greg Sterling | July 28, 2020 | Search Engine LandThey’ve called for a less punitive approach and in June approved a pilot program so that people accused of evading fares had the option to pay a lesser fine or complete community service.
Morning Report: MTS Enforcement Chief Departing | Voice of San Diego | July 28, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoNew board leaders including Chairman Nathan Fletcher and City Councilwoman Monica Montgomery, who chairs the agency’s public security committee, have called for the agency to consider a less punitive approach.
MTS Police Chief Departs as Agency Pulls Back Enforcement Push | Lisa Halverstadt | July 27, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThat punitive style of policing is what’s under scrutiny now, as the agency makes changes internally and a new group of leaders take the wheel.
Morning Report: Police Reformers Are Coming for MTS | Voice of San Diego | June 25, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThe agency’s punitive approach to fare evasion is now under scrutiny, as it undergoes a complete rethink of how its quasi-public security team operates.
The Police Reform Push Comes for MTS | Lisa Halverstadt and Jesse Marx | June 25, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
This concern ceased after the Spanish warned of severe punitive measures on the family members of suicides.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind | Brin-Jonathan Butler | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTpunitive measures could also be brought by the Security Council, but only with the backing of Russia and China.
Creating Consequences for South Sudan’s Political Elite | Justine Fleischner | July 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat we are saying to councils, who have powers to impose punitive council taxes on such people, is do so.
Even normally eager-to-talk sources have gone to ground, unsure how punitive the military might be in its actions against critics.
Even if they succeed, families can win only actual and not punitive damages from the federal government.
VA Pays $200 Million for Nearly 1,000 Veterans’ Wrongful Deaths | Aaron Glantz | April 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTpunitive expeditions are not organised in the event of slight fevers or even serious illness—only when the patient dies.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont | Louis de Rougemont"It's the perfect punitive world," Uncle Ingemar said proudly.
The Status Civilization | Robert SheckleyAlmost p 285every month there are punitive raids made from the towns, and brigands are captured and put to death.
The Age of Erasmus | P. S. AllenA punitive expedition, led by the same officer, afterward met with some success, but American popularity suffered in consequence.
The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon From Ifugao to Kalinga | Cornelis De Witt WillcoxSuffering is not always punitive; it is sometimes disciplinary, designed to wean the good man from his sin.
British Dictionary definitions for punitive
less commonly punitory (ˈpjuːnɪtərɪ, -trɪ)
/ (ˈpjuːnɪtɪv) /
relating to, involving, or with the intention of inflicting punishment: a punitive expedition
Origin of punitive
1Derived forms of punitive
- punitively, adverb
- punitiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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