compensatory

American  

[kuhm-pen-suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / kəmˈpɛn səˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

Also compensative

adjective

1. serving to compensate, as for loss, lack, or injury.

2. countercyclical.

---

Other Word Forms

• noncompensative adjective
• noncompensatory adjective
• recompensatory adjective
• subcompensative adjective
• subcompensatory adjective
• uncompensative adjective
• uncompensatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of compensatory

First recorded in 1595–1605; compensate + -ory ¹

Example Sentences

He has demanded both compensatory damages to redress his own harms as well as punitive damages “to deter future unconstitutional conduct.”

From Slate • Apr. 15, 2026

The judges found in the case of three restraints, force used was "not reasonable in all the circumstances" and that £2,000 in compensatory damages for each of them awarded in 2024 remained warranted.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

The panel awarded $3 million in compensatory damages, assigning Meta 70 percent of the responsibility for the plaintiff's harm -- a $2.1 million share -- and YouTube the remaining 30 percent, or $900,000.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

“Obesity is a chronic, relapsing, biologically defended disease. The body defends its highest sustained weight. So when weight decreases, compensatory mechanisms intensify. GLP‑1s blunt these signals, but they do not eliminate them entirely.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

Still others projected their hurts and longings into more naive and mundane forms—blues, jazz, swing—and, without intellectual guidance, tried to build up a compensatory nourishment for themselves.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright