Punishment

//ˈpʌnɪʃmənt// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act (action) or process of punishing, imposing and/or applying a sanction, typically by an authority or a person in authority (for example: a parent or teacher), especially when disappointed or dissatisfied with the behavior or actions of a child, student, or someone else being looked after. countable, uncountable

    "The naughty children were given a punishment by their teachers."

  2. 2
    the act of punishing, or the infliction of a penalty wordnet
  3. 3
    A penalty to punish wrongdoing, especially for crime. countable, uncountable

    "a light punishment"

  4. 4
    A suffering by pain or loss imposed as retribution. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    Any harsh treatment or experience; rough handling. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "a vehicle that can take a lot of punishment"

Synonyms

All synonyms
beatingcastigationchastisementpunitionpainscourge

Example

More examples

"I am against using death as a punishment. I am also against using it as a reward."

Etymology

From Middle English punishement, from Old French punissement, from punir (“to punish”). Equivalent to punish + -ment. Displaced native Old English wīte.

Related phrases

brute for punishmentcapital punishmentcollective punishmentglutton for punishmentgroup punishmentpetticoat punishmentpunishment passself-punishmentsucker for punishmentvicarious punishmentbad behaviorbad child

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