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retributivism

American  
[ri-trib-yuh-tuh-viz-uhm] / rɪˈtrɪb yə təˌvɪz əm /

noun

  1. a policy or theory of criminal justice that advocates the punishment of criminals in retribution for the harm they have inflicted.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of retributivism

First recorded in 1965–70; retributive + -ism

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.