recompense

American  

[rek-uhm-pens] / ˈrɛk əmˌpɛns /

verb (used with object)

recompensed, recompensing

1. to repay; remunerate; reward, as for service, aid, etc.

   Synonyms:

   recoup, reimburse

2. to pay or give compensation for; make restitution or requital for (damage, injury, or the like).

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verb (used without object)

recompensed, recompensing

1. to make compensation for something; repay someone.

   no attempt to recompense for our trouble.

noun

1. compensation, as for an injury, wrong, etc..

   to make recompense for the loss one's carelessness has caused.

   Synonyms:

   satisfaction, indemnification, amends, payment

2. a repayment or requital, as for favors, gifts, etc.

3. a remuneration or reward, as for services, aid, or the like.

recompense British  

/ ˈrɛkəmˌpɛns /

verb

1. (tr) to pay or reward for service, work, etc

2. (tr) to compensate for loss, injury, etc

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noun

1. compensation for loss, injury, etc

   to make recompense

2. reward, remuneration, or repayment

Related Words

See reward.

Other Word Forms

• recompensable adjective
• recompenser noun
• underrecompense verb (used with object)
• unrecompensable adjective
• unrecompensed adjective

Etymology

Origin of recompense

1375–1425; (v.) late Middle English < Middle French recompenser < Late Latin recompēnsāre, equivalent to Latin re- re- + compēnsāre ( compensate ); (noun) late Middle English < Middle French, derivative of recompenser

Example Sentences

And without legal recompense, the only check to this power appears to be other armed men.

From Slate • Jan. 29, 2026

Grandparents have demanded money as recompense for having spent years caring for a grandson taken in battle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 5, 2025

Having a visible tan in Victorian times was a clear sign you were poor working class and probably spent most of your time hawking barrels of hay for very little recompense.

From BBC • Aug. 3, 2025

His children, Tala and Adnan El Sabbagh, “feel they were robbed of things they treasured and worked hard for with no apparent recompense in sight.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 28, 2025

Concealed within relativism there thus lies a dream of omnipotence, a fantasy recompense, perhaps, for the impotence and irrelevance of academic life.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton