Penalize

verb

verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To subject to a penalty, especially for the infringement of a rule or regulation. transitive

    "Women should not be penalized or forced out of the workplace simply because they become pregnant. UPS, in fact, has come around to that position. It now offers light-duty accommodations to pregnant women who need them."

  2. 2
    impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on wordnet
  3. 3
    To impose a handicap on. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
punishacquitamerceanathematizeattaintblacklist

Example

More examples

"I will penalize you if you do not observe these regulations."

Etymology

From penal + -ize.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.