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.

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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

Compensatory damages are often meant to reimburse people for actual costs such as medical bills and income loss, but they also include compensation for emotional distress than can reach into the millions of dollars.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2022

Compensatory damages are a combination of awards for economic losses as well as noneconomic losses, which include the impacts on the plaintiff's reputation and their emotional, physical or mental health.

From Salon • Aug. 10, 2022

Compensatory damages are based on proven harm, loss or injury, and are often calculated based on the fair market value of damaged property, lost wages and expenses, according to Cornell Law School.

From New York Times • Aug. 4, 2022

Compensatory damages are intended to reimburse a plaintiff who has experienced actual losses, including from future earnings.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2022

Compensatory legislation dragged its slow length along for years, and the loyalists who had suffered in their pocket saw session after session pass, and their claims still unsatisfied.

From The Winning of Popular Government A Chronicle of the Union of 1841 by MacMechan, Archibald