Retribution

//ˌɹɛt.ɹɪˈbju.ʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance. countable, uncountable

    "Whereas retribution focuses on the offender's wrong, retaliation focuses on the impulse of the victim (or of those who sympathize with him) to strike back at the offender."

  2. 2
    the act of correcting for your wrongdoing wordnet
  3. 3
    the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done) especially in the next life wordnet
  4. 4
    a justly deserved penalty wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
vengeanceafflictionamendsatonementavengeavengement

Example

More examples

"You can make your choice freely without fear of retribution."

Etymology

PIE word *tréyes From Latin retribuere (“repay”).

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