punitive damages

American

plural noun

Law.

damages awarded to a plaintiff in excess of compensatory damages in order to punish the defendant for a reckless or willful act.

Etymology

Origin of punitive damages

First recorded in 1970–75

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:

punitive damages

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages along with her attorneys’ fees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

A judge later added hundreds of millions of dollars in punitive damages, bringing that judgment to roughly $1.4 billion.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

Compensation for physical injury is excluded from gross income, but punitive damages and any interest earned are taxable.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

Financial firms are seeking to curb punitive damages and route complex cases to other arbitration forums, which would require SEC approval.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

There shall be no annexations, no contributions, no punitive damages.

From England, Canada and the Great War by Louis-Georges Desjardins

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023