punish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to subject to pain, loss, confinement, death, etc., as a penalty for some offense, transgression, or fault.
The goal of the court is to punish the criminal for the crime he has committed.
- Synonyms:
- penalize, discipline, castigate, chastise
- Antonyms:
- reward
-
to inflict a penalty for (an offense, fault, etc.).
Unconditional imprisonment is imposed to punish past transgressions.
- Synonyms:
- penalize
- Antonyms:
- reward
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to mistreat, abuse, or hurt.
Additional tariffs will punish working families with higher prices on household basics.
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to handle severely or roughly, as in a fight.
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to put to painful exertion, as a horse in racing.
-
Informal. to make a heavy inroad on; deplete.
to punish a quart of whiskey.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to force (someone) to undergo a penalty or sanction, such as imprisonment, fines, death, etc, for some crime or misdemeanour
-
(tr) to inflict punishment for (some crime, etc)
-
(tr) to use or treat harshly or roughly, esp as by overexertion
to punish a horse
-
informal (tr) to consume (some commodity) in large quantities
to punish the bottle
Related Words
Punish, correct, discipline refer to making evident public or private disapproval of violations of law, wrongdoing, or refusal to obey rules or regulations by imposing penalties. To punish is chiefly to inflict penalty or pain as a retribution for misdeeds, with little or no expectation of correction or improvement: to punish a thief. To correct is to reprove or inflict punishment for faults, specifically with the idea of bringing about improvement: to correct a rebellious child. To discipline is to give a kind of punishment that will educate or will establish useful habits: to discipline a careless driver.
Other Word Forms
- overpunish verb
- prepunish verb (used with object)
- punisher noun
- punishing adjective
- punishingly adverb
- quasi-punished adjective
- repunish verb
- self-punished adjective
- unpunished adjective
- well-punished adjective
Etymology
Origin of punish
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English punischen, from Middle French puniss-, long stem of punir, from Latin pūnīre; akin to poena penalty, pain
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.
The stock is off about 50% from its November 2021 all-time high, as investors have punished the company for sales declines and sluggish profit growth.
From Barron's
I pray for Iranian civilians and all in the region who are punished by a war they never sought and can’t escape.
The league therefore faces a challenge: How to punish teams trying to lose while still helping those franchises that genuinely need it.
Usually the pressure is on schools to make sure rules are not violated, but for Bylaw 600, schools can do everything right and still be punished for a player violating the rule on their own.
From Los Angeles Times
It turned out to be nothing but a brief dalliance for the couple, who struggled with the area’s punishing heat.
From MarketWatch
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.
