Retributionist
noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 One who holds that there must be retribution (vengeance, punishment) for transgressions.
"The retributionist says — I quote from Sir James F. Stephen — ‘The criminal law proceeds upon the principle that it is morally right to hate criminals, and it confirms and justifies that sentiment by inflicting upon criminals punishments which express it.’"
Example
More examples"The retributionist says — I quote from Sir James F. Stephen — ‘The criminal law proceeds upon the principle that it is morally right to hate criminals, and it confirms and justifies that sentiment by inflicting upon criminals punishments which express it.’"
Etymology
From retribution + -ist.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.